


Starlight

by SakuraBlossomStorm



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fantasy AU, Hurt/Comfort, Matchmaking, Mental Illness, Personified Star, Romance, mental health
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2018-09-03 15:43:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8719489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakuraBlossomStorm/pseuds/SakuraBlossomStorm
Summary: In a moment of drunken madness, Ben makes a wish on a shooting star to meet the love of his life. The next morning he wakes up next to a mysterious girl who insists she's the fallen star Ben wished on and has been sent to help him find love.





	1. Prologue - Falling

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so this was originally an idea that came from a fic-title that was sent to me by pawneewafflesben. After I came up with the summery for the title I decided that I really wanted to write it!
> 
> So without further ado, here's the first chapter of 'Starlight!'
> 
> A huge thanks needs to go to supervanillabear31 for checking this over for me and being so wonderful when I bombard her with all my writing! And also a thanks goes to pawneewafflesben because without that prompt this never would have come about! So thank you!

_‘If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?’_

Ben rolled his eyes; the three words that immediately came to mind were miserable, stubborn and unlucky.

He should probably add pessimistic to the list while he was at it.

The personality quiz was sent around on his work email around City Hall. It was instructed by his boss and best friend, Chris Traeger. It was another one of his ploys to get to know everyone in City Hall and their personalities. He always roped Ben to help in with all of his crazy team-building exercises.

Ben had lost count of the amount of times he had to go into peoples meetings as a British boy with a limp to help departments with their observation skills.

And now he was stuck trying to find stupid words to describe himself. 

Ben was going to be honest; he hated himself. There was nothing positive to say about him. Chris would tell him that he was a great Assistant City Manager and a delight to have around, but Ben knew he was just saying it to try and make Ben feel better. 

Chris had watched Ben type in his original answers: Boring, overemotional, resentful.

He frowned at Ben’s words and told him he needed to think of at least one positive thing about himself to continue. But as Chris left the office, Ben scoffed loudly.

He was a failure, a joke. There was nothing good about that. When he was eighteen, he managed to bankrupt his hometown of Partridge, Minnesota, where he was elected as Mayor. He had no idea how he actually manage to win, but, to this day, no one blames the voters, no one ever blames the voters. It was all his fault.

So he left and tried to make a name for himself to prove that he could be trusted with money. Sure he had a great job now and was earning the big bucks, but his past still haunted him to this day.

Not to mention that his girlfriend of five years just broke up with him. That was the icing on top of the shit-cake that was his life.

Cindy Eckert was beautiful, a brunette with legs that went on for days. She came from Partridge too, and Ben and Cindy were thick as thieves while they were growing up. She stood by him throughout the whole ‘Ice Town’ debacle, although she did turn him down for senior prom to go with Danny Cooper instead. She insisted it was nothing personal, she just wanted to ‘climb him like a tree.’ 

They re-united after Cindy moved to Indianapolis, where Ben was based for several years before taking up residence in Pawnee to be Assistant City Manager. After a few dates, Ben managed to convince Cindy to go out with him.

Yes, convinced. She told him that.

After five whole years, Ben had thought that things were going well between him and Cindy. The travelling from Pawnee to Indianapolis wasn’t a big deal, and he quite enjoyed getting out of the craziness for a night or two. Ok, sure, Ben let his past get the better of him sometimes and would occasionally bundle himself up in his duvet and refuse to leave the house for three days, but anyone would be like that in his situation, right?

A month ago, they went back to Partridge to visit Ben’s family. As soon as he got there, he was screamed at by passers-by who recognised him and had eggs pelted at him. 

He immediately hid in his old bedroom at his mother’s home, while an irritated Cindy hovered over him.

“So are you going to move at all today?” she snapped angrily after two hours of Ben hiding and not responding to anything.

“Not if I can help it,” Ben growled from inside his blanket cocoon.

Cindy broke up with him after that trip. She invited him to their favourite restaurant in Indianapolis and did it over their main courses.

“It’s not you; it’s…no, wait, sorry, it is you, Ben. I can’t stand all this depression and mopey-ness. You need to get over Ice Town. It happened, it’s over. We’ve all done dumb stuff when we were younger,” Cindy chided him over her plate of pasta.

Ben gulped. “But no one else bankrupted an entire town.”

“Oh boo-fricking-hoo!” Cindy snapped angrily, leaning back in her chair. “That’s all we ever hear! I can’t go out because of Ice Town. I can’t cook dinner because Ice Town. Ice Town! Ice Town! ICE TOWN!”

She slammed her fists down on the table, startling Ben. “I’m sorry, Ben. But until you get over it, we can’t be together.”

And, with that, she grabbed her purse and stormed out of the restaurant, leaving a shocked and miserable Ben alone with his calzone.

He was so depressed he didn’t even ask for a doggy bag for the unfinished calzone.

That happened one long month ago, and Ben still wasn’t over her. If anything, it made his mood and mental health worse. It got so bad that Chris referred him to his girlfriend, who was a psychiatrist.

Ann listened to him and prescribed him Zoloft in hopes of calming his demons and to help him become the positive, happy person he should be. But they didn’t work. Apparently when you start taking them your symptoms worsen before they improve, so Ben spent a fun two days sobbing hysterically under his covers and trembling uncontrollably.

But, regardless, at both Ann and Chris’ request, he carried on taking them. 

_‘If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?’_

Ben flexed his fingers over the keyboard, deciding to try again. It couldn’t be that hard. Come on, just one positive word, just one little thing and that’ll keep Chris happy.

But Ben found himself typing: Depressed, lonely, neurotic.

God damn it.

There was a bang at the door, causing Ben to jump and clutch a hand to his chest. Soon, the door flew open, and Andy Dwyer came bounding in. He worked as the City Hall shoeshine boy and was a budding musician on the side. His recently married psycho wife, April, managed to get him to job, but most of the time he usually saw them making out.

“Dude! Stop what you are doing and come to Tucker’s with us to get a beer!” Andy hollered excitedly.

Ben blinked and looked at the time on his computer. Holy crap; it was nearly 7PM on a Friday. When did that happen? Had he really been staring at his computer screen for that long just trying to think of one positive word to describe himself?

Wow, he _really_ hated himself.

“Oh. Um, thanks for the invite, but I’m pretty busy with work stuff,” Ben mumbled. In all honesty, he just wanted to go home and crawl under the blankets and sleep all weekend until Monday rolled around.

“No, you don’t!” Andy said, hurrying over to his desk and blocking his way. “We’re all gonna be at the bar; April, Tom, Chris, Ann, everyone! And they’re all going to buy me beer if I come back with you. So, don’t let me down, man. You never come out!”

“I don’t really feel like it,” Ben countered, feeling himself getting annoyed at Andy’s presence.

“Just one drink! One drink, and then I promise I will never bother you again. I just really want all that beer!” Andy whined, pouting like an overgrown puppy.

Ben sighed, exasperated and reached over to grab his coat. “Fine. Just one drink.”

Andy whooped excitedly, causing Ben to cover his eyes briefly and let the man-child steer him out of the office with glee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben arrived to several whoops and cheers as Andy pushed him into the bar. Chris clapped him around the back and handed him a cold beer.

“There he is! The man of the hour! Ben Wyatt!” Chris announced excitedly to more cheers.

“What are you doing?” Ben asked with a sceptical frown.

“We all decided to go out for spontaneous Friday night drinks, and then Ann realised something; it’s been a whole month since you’ve been on your medication and on the road to recovery. It’s a great thing! So we wanted you to be here to celebrate. I know you don’t really like coming out, but we just wanted to have a drink with you, even if it is just one,” Chris explained, a friendly smile spreading across his face.

After that, Ben couldn’t be down anymore. This was pretty awesome and despite everything in his life that was going to shit, he had some pretty awesome colleagues and friends.

And he was going to totally ignore April pouring vodka into his beer and get one that hadn’t been tinkered with. After all, he was willing to stay out and have a few drinks if he was not going to get sloppy drunk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“And she just…dumped me! Five years! Five years of lies and shit; that’s all she gave me.” Ben slurred as he grabbed the nearest tequila shot and downed it, slamming the shot glass back on the table so hard it nearly smashed.

Ann had just done her own shot and reached over to place a hand on Ben’s arm. “Ben, I’m gonna to say this as your friend and your therapist. Fuck that bitch! Fuck her! She’s not worth your time…you are a good person. You’re succha good person!” Ann cried out, barely able to stand straight.

“But I loved her,” Ben continued, still wincing at the sharp taste of the tequila. “I loved her so much…I was going to take her to fucking Mexico!”

“You’ll find someone else to take to Mexico” Tom chimed in. “There’s plenty more…fishies in the sea!”

The whole group roared with laughter at ‘fishies.’ And Tom signalled for another round of shots. 

However, Ben could feel the room spinning. He blinked several times trying to make sense of the room, but the alcohol was marring his vision. Everything was spinning, and he felt nauseous. Chris could tell something was going wrong and managed to pull Ben out of the bar just in time for him to puke on the roadside.

Ben retched loudly and spewed out yellow vomit from the depths of his stomach, whimpering to himself as Chris rubbed his back.

“There, there, Buddy,” Chris said softly, “Get it all up.”

Ben sniffed and spat on the ground a few times. “I think I drank too much.”

Chris laughed as he helped Ben steady himself. “I think we all drank too much, but I think it’s time we got you home.” 

He managed to text Ann, telling her that he was going to take Ben home and then come back for her, all while holding Ben up with one arm. Ben was marvelling at Chris’s strength. Wow, he never realised that Chris was so strong.

Ben reached up and ran an uncoordinated hand down Chris’s face. “You are such a good looking man,” Ben slurred out.

Chris pushed Ben’s hand away and roared with laughter. “Holy crap, Ben. We need to get you home before you start really hitting on me.”

“I can’t help it!” Ben whined out, squirming out of Chris’s grasp and staggering along the road. “I’m just so fucking lonely; it’s not fair. Why did Cindy have to break up with me?”

“Because she wasn’t right for you,” Chris explained. “She wasn’t your soulmate, and that’s ok. She’s out there, or he’s out there; I’m not really sure what you are looking for after that!”

Ben shook his head, “I want a girl. A nice girl, that’s all.”

He glanced up at the night sky; the cool air blowing across his face, attempting to sober him up, but Ben was far too gone to notice anything. He swayed on the spot as he began counting the stars to himself while Chris called a cab.

Then he saw it.

A flash across the sky. It happened so quickly that Ben was almost convinced that his mind was playing tricks on him. He gasped loudly and staggered backwards, pointing a shaky hand towards where the glimmer of light had been.

“Fuck! A shooting star! I just saw a shooting star!”

“Jesus, Ben. We need to get you home,” Chris sighed as he hung up the phone to the cab company.

“No, I saw it! I promise.” Ben was giddy with excitement, and, before anyone could stop him, he flung his arms out and threw his head back.

“If anyone up there is listening to me up there, then send me my soulmate! I’ll take anything! I just want to meet her, I want to meet the love of my life!” he cried up to the stars, closing his eyes afterwards and inhaling deeply.

He took in such a deep breath that the cold air shook his lungs, and he promptly puked on the road in front of him.

Chris shook his head and turned his attention to the car headlights turning towards them. “Great, the cab’s here. While that was beautiful and very eloquent, we need to get you home.”

Ben didn’t complain as Chris dragged him inside the cab and tipped the driver to get him home fast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben woke up to the worst headache of his entire existence. His insides were burning, and it felt like someone was sitting on his head. He groaned loudly and buried his face into his pillow as he tried to make sense of the night before.

There was so much alcohol; he said he was only going to stay for one drink… What the hell happened?

He grunted loudly and slowly raised his head, his blurry eyes slowly adjusting to the light in the room. He ran a hand through his messy hair and remembered he needed to take his Zoloft, and maybe some aspirin, when he noticed it.

A pair of sparkling blue eyes staring back at him.

It took Ben a while to process what he was looking at, but he soon realised it was a woman, a beautiful woman with curly blonde hair and dazzling blue eyes. She had the warmest smile he had ever seen and…she was butt naked.

“Hi there!”

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

Ben screamed loudly and was so frightened he scurried backwards off the bed and tumbled to the floor with a loud thud.

The girl gasped and crawled to the edge of the bed, her perky breasts jiggling as she moved. “Oh my gosh! Are you ok?”

“W-who are you? What are you doing in my bed?” Ben managed to choke out, pointing a quivering finger at her.

The girl chuckled softly and cocked her head to the side. “Don’t you remember? You wished on me last night? So I’ve come to help you.”

“I made a wish on you?” Ben repeated, his brain was far too fuzzy to even comprehend what was happening.

“Yes. I was just passing by, and I heard you shouting, so I came down to help you,” the girl explained.

“Wait a minute,” Ben stammered, his eyes widening. “Are you… You’re…”

The girl smiled a bright toothy grin. “I’m the star you wished on last night. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ben.”


	2. Learning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 2! Thank you all so much for your lovely comments for chapter one! It means so much to me and I'm so pleased to see that it makes people happy.
> 
> Comments and kudos are much appreciated

Ben couldn’t believe what was happening. No matter how many times he blinked, the sight in front of him stayed the same.

A girl. Naked. In his bed.

And he couldn’t remember how she got there.

And she was claiming to be a star?

Good lord, he was more hungover than he thought.

“Are you okay?” the girl asked him, frowning slightly. “Did I scare you?”

“I’m…no wait… _who_ are you again?” Ben asked, as he got up from his heap on the floor.

“I told you; I’m the star you wished on last night,” the girl said with a smile.

“The star…The star I wished on last night,” Ben stammered. He remembered making the wish on the shooting star, and now the supposed star was here, in his bed, naked.

“I’m sorry. Can you put some clothes on?” Ben asked. “It’s really distracting trying to get to the bottom of this when you look like…that.”

The star frowned again. “But this is what I always look like.”

“No, I mean,” Ben sighed and walked over to his closet, pulling out a shirt and sleeping shorts and handing them to her, “put these on.”

The star lifted up the shirt and analysed it. “How strange. Wait! Are these clothes? I’ve learned a lot about the human world before I came down, and I’ve heard about clothes, but they are just so _funny_. What’s a ‘Letters to Cleo?’”

“They’re a band,” Ben said, trying to avert his gaze and not look at the star’s boobs.

“A band? Like a rock band? I see. I think I understand.” She nodded and stared at the shirt. “Now, I’ve read about putting on clothes, but the question is _how?_ There are so many holes.”

There were a couple of disconnected grunts, and Ben turned around to see the star trying to fit her head through one of the arm holes. He sighed again and managed to shift the shirt so that it slipped easily over her head.

“And these,” Ben said, gesturing to the shorts.

The star gawped at them, “Interesting,” she mused but still slowly tugged them on, finally covering up her lower half.

“Okay. Now we can talk about this,” Ben mumbled as he tentatively took a seat next to her on the bed. “So…You’re a star?”

“Yes.”

“From the sky?”

“Yes…They don’t have stars anywhere else.”

Ben ran a hand through his hair and took in a deep breath. “Right. We’re getting nowhere…What’s your name?”

“Eridanus.”

Ben blinked. “Eridanus?”

“Yes. That’s the name of the constellation where I shine. There’s over a hundred of us,” Eridanus explained.

“And you’re all called Eridanus?

She nodded.

Ben’s head throbbed, and he pressed a hand to it. This was all so confusing and surely not real. This woman must have broken into his house overnight and is now playing a trick on him and will probably end up stealing all of his stuff. Yeah, that was it.

But there was something as he looked into her eyes, a sparkle behind her bright blue orbs, something that told him that she wasn’t human, that she was special and unique. He’d seen enough of Star Trek to recognise the signs of something supernatural, but why was she here? Why did she show such an interest in him?

“Why are you here?” Ben finally blurted out, and Eridanus smiled softly, taking Ben’s hands into hers; they felt warm and so, so smooth.

“Last night, I was travelling across my constellation. Sometimes when we travel humans on Earth can see it. I believe you call it a ‘shooting star?’ And it’s a tradition of some sort to make a wish on us while we travel. I don’t know why humans do it. It can get kind of annoying. I mean we can’t really do anything; we don’t have the power to. But when I heard you…I just felt so sad, and I wanted to help you. I managed to gather as much information on you as I could, and I realised that I wanted to come down and help you. So I fell.” Eridanus tucked a blonde curl behind her ear. “That’s it really.”

“You want to help me? With what?” Ben asked, folding his arms across his chest.

“With love,” Eridanus replied. “You sounded so sad last night, and looking through your file, I found out that you used to be in a relationship with someone, and she broke up with you. So I want to help you get her back. What do you say?”

Ben tried to speak, but his words failed him. His brain was going into overdrive, and he was worried that it would soon overheat and shut down. He closed his eyes briefly as he tried to piece everything together.

There was a girl, a star, called Eridanus in his bed. She wants to help him get Cindy back, and then presumably go back to the night sky?

That’s totally plausible.

“Why do I feel like this is all just one big set up?” Ben asked, and Eridanus giggled, her laugh was warm and friendly.

“I had a feeling you’d say that. Okay, do you want proof?” Eridanus asked.

Ben nodded.

Eridanus looked down at Ben’s hands, still wrapped in hers, and she carefully lifted them up so that they were level to their chests. Then she closed her eyes, and smiled softly.

“Close your eyes,” she whispered, and Ben did so.

A huge rush overcame Ben, like a warm breeze of wind, touching every inch of his skin, causing goosebumps to rise on his arms. His mind stopped reeling and was suddenly put at ease, as if all his worries and fear that he had ever had in his life had just slipped out, and were no more. The only thing he could think about now was how warm and tingly he felt. Happy. He felt happy for the first time in forever.

He wanted to open his eyes, and marvel in the beauty around him, but he obeyed Eridanus and his eyes remained closed as the warmth spread through his body, like a match had ignited his organs; they were now coated in a fiery heat that should have burned, but left behind a euphoric buzz.

Soon, the urge to open his eyes became too great, and he peeled back his eyelids, to see Eridanus staring back at him, her whole body sparkling and glowing as if her entire body was made up of millions of tiny stars, glistening and shining.

Making him believe in her.

She lowered his hands back to his side and let go of them, and the warmth slowly left Ben, leaving him alone with his previous thoughts as they started to invade his brain once more.

But there was a new thought, one that blossomed as he looked at Eridanus, at her blonde curls, into her blue eyes. 

This was real. 

_She_ was real.

“Oh my god,” he murmured.

All she could do was smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You can see her too, right? I mean, it’s not just me?” Ben babbled nervously as he sat in front of Ann, frantically gesturing to Eridanus who was sat in the corner of the room, toying with a bunch of flowers in a vase and ‘ahh-ing’ at the colours.

He was a little relieved to see that Ann was apparently just as hungover as he was; he had managed to slip on some of his flip flops over Eridanus’ dainty feet and coaxed her out of the house and drove them over to Ann’s place. She opened the door bleary-eyed and with last night’s make up strewn all over her face.

It took a good half an hour or so of Ann sorting herself out before finally making Ben some tea and sitting down with him at her kitchen table for a impromptu therapy session. It was just them and Eridanus; Chris had thankfully gone for a run, leaving them in privacy.

“No, she’s definitely here,” Ann winced slightly as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “And are you sure you didn’t pick her up at the bar last night?”

“Positive,” Ben said. “Chris took me home last night, there were no girls. I just woke up this morning, and there she was. She has no clue about anything, and she keeps saying she’s here to help me get Cindy back.”

“And does she know Cindy is a huge butthole?” Ann asked.

Ben sighed. Ok maybe she didn’t know about that, but, hey, people can change, right? If Cindy was willing and could see that Ben was ready to take action with his mental health, then surely she’d give him another chance. 

It was slowly piecing together in a crazy way. Eridanus came down like a guardian angel and wanted to help, and, if she made Cindy feel just the same as he felt this morning, then she’d be welcoming him back with open arms, right?

“Look, I can’t quite explain it, but she’s the real deal. She did some sort of weird voodoo magic on me this morning and I felt…happy. Like for the first time in ages, just genuinely happy and like I could do anything,” Ben explained.

He leaned down on the table to get closer to Ann “I don’t know what to do,” he whispered. “This is all just so weird. Should I just put her up in a hotel or something?”

Ann shook her head. “No, the poor thing is confused and has no idea what anything is.” She looked over at Eridanus, who was now staring intently at the TV, poking the screen and musing to herself about how strange it was that there were people inside something that was so flat.

“You need to keep her at your place and take care of her. If she really is what she’s saying, then she’ll get bored soon enough and go back up…to the stars apparently,” Ann mumbled, taking a sip of her tea.

Ben pursed his lips. Ann was right. He knew she was. He couldn’t leave her alone right now, especially since she seemed so hell bent on helping him. Plus, it might be nice to have some company around his apartment. It was just a matter of learning how to be patient and take care of his new roommate, because he was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to take care of herself. She’d leave the house every day butt naked if it weren’t for him.

Then it dawned on him. He couldn’t keep dressing her up in his clothes forever; people might think that was weird.

“Can you do me a favour?” Ben asked Ann, as he glanced back over at Eridanus, who was now hugging a pillow to her chest and commenting about how clouds were way fluffier. “Can you take her to the mall and just get her all of the things she’ll need while she’s here? Clothes, shampoo…bras… You know, that kind of stuff.”

Ann groaned and rubbed her forehead. “Seriously, dude? I am so unbelievably hungover. Can’t this wait?”

“Ann, I’m begging you,” Ben pleaded. “She needs some sort of female hand here. I can’t do it; I have no idea what she needs. Plus, maybe you can find out a little more about her? She might tell you things that she won’t tell me.”

Ann frowned. “You want me to take a poor defenceless star out shopping and interrogate her?”

“Not interrogate,” Ben quickly replied. “Just…I don’t know. Find out what she wants from me, and why she picked me. She said that apparently loads of people make wishes on her, and she’s never batted an eyelid until now. I’m not good news, Ann. And she seems far too innocent and pure to be swept up in my shitstorm of a life. Maybe…let her know what’s she getting herself into.”

Ann rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine. But next week we are scheduling a session, and we are going to talk about your self esteem…And I am not paying for all this. We are going to want lunch too…Something with carbs to help with this,” she said, and Ben could only assume she meant her hangover.

“Sure,” Ben said, handing over his credit card to Ann. “And one more thing. Please don’t tell Chris about any of this. He probably already thinks I’m a basket case, and this will just make things worse.”

“I won’t, and he doesn’t think that at all,” Ann told him. “Seriously, next week: self esteem.”

She took the credit card and walked over to the lounge, where Eridanus was sat on the couch.

“Eridanus? Hi, I’m Ann,” Ann said as she crouched to her level. Eridanus looked up and beamed at her.

“Oh! Ann! I’ve read all about you. You sound like a wonderful person for helping Ben with everything he’s been going through. And you are so pretty! You are like an ethereal, loveable raincloud,” Eridanus gushed as she grabbed Ann’s hands and took them in hers.

“Um…Thank you” Ann swallowed, looking from the star back to Ben. “You’re going to spend the day with me, okay? We’re going to go shopping and get you some human things. Does that sound alright?”

“That sounds wonderful” Eridanus squeaked and jumped up from the couch. She hurried over to Ben. “Is that okay?” she asked him, her eyes wide and hopeful.

“Of course it is,” Ben smiled at her, and relished in the wide grin he received back from her. “Have fun.”

And Eridanus was bounding out of the door before Ann could say anything more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was late in the evening when Ann buzzed Ben’s apartment, announcing that she had returned from a successful day shopping with Eridanus. Ben let them in and was welcomed by the sight of Eridanus and Ann with tons of shopping bags.

She returned Ben’s credit card to him and told him that she had got all of the essentials and everything she could think of to help her. Then she bid the two farewell, proclaiming that she desperately needed to go to bed, and that she’d fill Ben in on everything in the morning.

Ann pulled Ben into a hug as she walked toward the door, whispering, “Holy crap; she’s amazing,” to him, causing a huge rush of happiness that he couldn’t quite explain to rush through his body. 

“So did you have a good day?” Ben asked as he watched the star sort through the many bags that now littered his lounge floor.

“A _great_ day! Ann is so lovely. You must be so happy to have such a beautiful friend like her,” Eridanus said, as she straightened up a little. 

Ben felt his cheeks blush a little. “Y-Yeah, she’s pretty great.”

“We talked about everything, and she thinks that I should have a more human sounding name. So she got this thing out; I think she called it a cell phone? But it’s amazing! Do you have one? It’s got everything you could ever need on it. Well, that’s how she described it anyway. But she got this list up of girl names, and she let me pick my earth name. Do you want to hear it?” Eridanus asked excitedly.

“Lay it on me.”

“Leslie.”

Ben stared at her. Of all the names she could have picked, that was the one she chose? He shrugged. It was her choice after all, and this was clearly what she wanted.

“Leslie? Are you sure?”

Eridanus nodded. “Yep, I like it. Plus I like the way you say it… _Leslie_ , it rolls of the tongue. Don’t you think?”

Ben smiled and stepped over some of the bags to get closer to her “Alright, if you say so. And as long as you like it.”

Eridanus – _Leslie_ nodded “I do, I really like it.”

She looked over at the bags and grinned at Ben. “We got so much great stuff,” she told Ben proudly and started pulling out clothes from a bag. “We got all these…pantsuits? I think that’s what Ann called them. She said I should wear these when I go to work with you because I’ll look official, and they match my name. She also got me these!” She said as she lifted out several coloured bras from a bag.

“O-oh. Great,” Ben stammered, as he tried to look away. He was pretty sure he had seen enough of her boobs for the day without being constantly reminded by them.

“Uh huh! I’m wearing one now! Look!” she exclaimed, pulling up Ben’s shirt and revealing a blue polka dot bra underneath.

Ben gawped and quickly reached over to pull the shirt back down. “You really need to stop doing that,” he told her. 

“Yeah, Ann said the same thing to me,” Leslie mused. “But the woman in the shop seemed okay with me doing it. She said that it was nice to see someone with that much confidence.” 

Leslie began pulling out things from other bags. There were shoes, more underwear, skirts, tops and pants, products for her hair and face, perfume, and even some tampons.

“Ann said I might need these,” Leslie told him, holding up the box of tampons. “Just in case, but I’m not sure what she meant by that.”

Ben found himself rubbing his face in his hands. Oh god, there was going to be so much to teach Leslie about, and the thought of trying to explain periods to her filled him with dread. Did stars even menstruate? He was sure that would be something he would one day find out if Leslie planned on staying with him for a while. 

He sat and watched Leslie pull out all of her items one by one, and reel off a story about how and when she bought it, and all the advice Ann had given her. Then, she told him about the lunch that they had.

“I’ve never eaten human food before, and it was truly amazing. I had spaghetti, and I put this really sweet stuff on it. Ann said it was sugar and that it doesn’t go with spaghetti, but I think it does,” Leslie smiled at the memory as she packed away a skirt she had gotten out to show Ben.

Ben smirked at her, but there was something still gnawing at him. Why had she chosen to help him? There was that horrible voice in the back of his head telling him that this was all just a huge set up, and he was being pranked. That there was someone secretly filming him and laughing at him interact with this woman who claimed to be a star.

“Eri…Leslie?” Ben asked, causing Leslie to look up at him. “Why are you here?”

Leslie smiled “I told you, I’m here to help you get your old girlfriend back.”

“But why?” Ben asked, getting a little frustrated. He didn’t deserve this, any of this. He already had Ann helping him and seeing him twice a week to talk about his demons. He had Chris force-feeding him vitamin supplements in the hope that it will raise his spirits. He certainly didn’t deserve a supernatural being to come and help him with his failed love life.

“Because you’ve earned it, Ben” Leslie explained, standing up and sitting next to him on the couch. “You’ve earned some happiness, and life’s been cruel to you. But it going to get so much better from here on out; I can promise that. Because tomorrow we are going to come up with a game plan to get Cindy back.”

“Cindy…You know her name?”

“Ann told me,” Leslie replied. “She said that she doesn’t really like her and that you shouldn’t get back together with her. But when I looked over your file, I saw that you were the happiest you’ve been in a long time with her. So I see something good there, and it’s not over, not yet anyway.”

“You keep going on about this file,” Ben then said. “Do you have files on all of us up there?”

“Oh, that’s actually my job,” Leslie said. “We have information on every human on earth, and I put them together in these binders, and we have this huuuuge library where they all are stored. I don’t really like it there, though. The stars who man the library are huge snobs and think they are so much better than everyone else. I had a hard time getting your file, but I managed. I told them it was official binder checking business, and I needed to check it over.”

“Stars have jobs?” Ben said, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

Leslie giggled. “Well, what do you think we do all day? Just stay in the sky and shine? No. Stars are so much more than that, and I want to teach you all about it in our time together.”

Ben couldn’t help but grin at Leslie. She was so endearing, and her positive attitude was almost infectious. A quality he never really understood until now. 

Soon, his hangover became too much again, and he yawned loudly. “Look, it’s time for bed. I can make up the couch for you, and you can sleep here tonight.”

“Sleep?” Leslie frowned. “But it’s night time? Are you telling me you sleep at night?”

“Oh. Right. Stars come out at night,” Ben mumbled to himself. Not only was his new roommate a star, she was also nocturnal. That was going to take some getting used to.

“Well, here’s something about humans. We sleep when it gets dark out. Usually, between the hours of 10 PM and 7 AM, humans sleep. So I really need to go to bed. Are you ok if I leave you out here for the night?”

Leslie nodded. “I’m sure I will occupy myself.”

Ben grabbed his laptop off the dining table and set it on the coffee table in front of Leslie. There he called up an entire A-Z encyclopedia, and Leslie ‘ooh-ed’ in wonder.

“Here, you can read this. That will keep you busy,” he told her. He ordered Leslie to change into the pyjamas that Ann had purchased for her; they were conveniently covered in tiny stars. Then, he pulled out a spare comforter and pillow from his closet.

“These are here in case you want to sleep,” Ben said, tugging Leslie up from the couch and turning it into a bed for her. “Maybe try and get some sleep? If you are going to stay here, you should really get on our sleep schedule.” 

“I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything. Stars don’t really need much sleep anyway,” Leslie told him as she climbed under the covers and sighed. “Wow, this is really soft.”

“I’m glad you like it. Well, I guess this is goodnight?” he said and gave Leslie and awkward wave. “So…goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Ben. And thank you for being so welcoming. I know I kind of intruded and surprised you, but I’m really happy I can stay here.”

Ben felt his cheeks grow warm with a blush again, and he gave Leslie a friendly nod before walking into his bedroom. There, he climbed under his own covers and stared up at the dark ceiling, his heart pounding in excitement in his chest.

This was the first time he had felt excited about anything in a long time, and he almost didn’t want to go to sleep, which never happened ever since he became depressed.

Leslie was wonderful, and she wanted to help him get Cindy back. She really was a guardian angel to him, and had picked him to help.

It all still seemed like a dream, and Ben was almost too afraid to close his eyes and sleep in case he woke up to find all of this had disappeared. But his eyes were growing heavy, and sleep was imminent.

For now, he just had to trust his instincts and listen to his gut. Leslie was going to be there in the morning and would help him get his life back on track.

He just had to believe.


	3. Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a moment of drunken madness, Ben makes a wish on a shooting star to meet the love of his life. The next morning he wakes up next to a mysterious girl who insists she's the fallen star Ben wished on and has been sent to help him find love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always a huge thank you goes to supervanillabear31 for being my wonderful beta! You are a wonderful moonbeam!

The horribly familiar smell of burning wafting into Ben’s nose was the first thing he noticed when he woke up the next morning. His eyes snapped open, and he bolted out of bed, darting into the kitchen frantically.

He got there just in time to see Leslie standing in front of a pan that had smoke steaming out of it. She was covered from head to toe in flour and what looked like pancake batter.

“I’m so sorry!” Leslie squeaked as Ben hurried over, quickly shutting off the stove and lifting up the burning pan.

“What were you trying to do?” Ben asked as he carried the pan over to the kitchen sink, dumping it in and turning the water on to stop the burning.

“Well, I read online about food, and it was so fascinating. So I looked into it a little more and read about breakfast food. There was a picture of these things called waffles, and they looked so good, and I wanted to make us some. I found all the ingredients, and I thought I had it under control,” Leslie trailed off awkwardly, her arms falling down by her side.

Ben couldn’t help but grin at Leslie. Yes, she did just try and burn his apartment down, but it was a nice gesture at least.

“Are you mad?” Leslie asked meekly, toying with her hands.

“No, not at all, but you need a shower,” Ben told her. He beckoned her to follow him, and he pulled out all the shower supplies that Ann had bought, all presented in a neat shower caddy.

“Okay, so did Ann tell you how to use these?”

Leslie wrinkled her nose. “Briefly. Remind me again?”

Ben sighed and lifted out a bottle of shampoo. “Right, so this goes on your hair; you need to lather it up and then wash it out, and don’t get any in your eyes, and don’t eat it, no matter how good it smells. It’s not for eating.”

Leslie nodded in understanding. “Okay, hair, lather, don’t eat it. Got it.”

“Good. Next is conditioner. You do the exact same thing, but shampoo goes first, conditioner second,” Ben continued.

Leslie nodded again.

“Then we have body wash. This goes…all over here” Ben gestured to her body. “And it does not go on your hair. Got it?”

“Yes,” Leslie replied confidently.

“Do you want me to sit outside?” Ben asked, the words out of his mouth before he even realised what he had said.

Leslie pursed her lips. “That would be nice.”

Ben nodded and led her into the bathroom. He pulled back the shower curtain and switched on the water. Soon, warm water was falling from the showerhead. 

“Alright, clothes off and in you get. Good luck,” Ben said to her and just about managed to get outside before Leslie was stripping again.

“I’m right outside. Call me if you need anything,” Ben called into the bathroom, pulled a chair from the dining table to sit down.

He listened as Leslie showered, praying that she wouldn’t slip or get anything in her eyes. But, by the sounds of it, she was doing just fine. He then looked over at the messy kitchen and sighed. It was going to be hard practically having to babysit Leslie and stop her from getting into mischief, but she wanted to help; he couldn’t be mad at someone who was just trying to help, especially with his state of mind.

He paused. In the madness of this morning, he had completely forgotten to take his Zoloft. He thought about the small orange bottle in the bathroom that held those precious pills to fix his mood for the day. He never forgot, no matter how stressed or busy he was. It was like clockwork.

He made a mental note to take them as soon as Leslie was out of the bathroom and safe.

“Ben?”

“What’s up?” Ben asked, standing up and pushing the door open slightly so that steam crept over the floorboards.

“I think I’m done? How do I turn it off?”

“Oh…um,” Ben sighed. He was going to have to go in and help her, wasn’t he?

Carefully, he trod into the bathroom. “Alright, stand back,” he told her and reached a hand blindly into the shower, thankfully placing his hand straight on the faucet and turning it off.

The water dripped to a stop, and Ben pulled back, taking a fresh towel from a rack in the corner and passing it to her, trying not to look.

“Here. Take this and wrap it around yourself.”

“Got it!” Leslie chirruped, and gladly took the towel from him.

He pulled back the curtain once Leslie was decency was covered and offered her his hand to take. She gratefully took it, and Ben helped her out of the shower.

“You should have told me. Showers are just like rain clouds,” Leslie said to him as Ben handed her another towel to dry her hair.

“I guess that’s true,” Ben agreed. “Well, dry off, and we’ll have some proper breakfast, okay?”

Leslie nodded, and Ben closed the door on her again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So I took your file from the library before coming down,” Leslie explained to Ben once she was dry from her shower. She was sat opposite him on the couch wearing a blue shirt that Ann had purchased and a pair of grey sweatpants.

“Great,” Ben said, clapping his hands together. “Where is it?”

Leslie smiled and held up her right hand. There was a small gold band with a yellow gemstone on her index finger. Carefully, she turned the gemstone once clockwise and in a burst of golden sparks, a binder appeared out of thin air and landed on her lap.

Ben gawped. “Where the hell were you hiding that?”

Leslie started thumbing through the pages briskly. “Oh. Well we have these star rings. And basically they summon anything we want from the sky. You just have to focus on the thing you want and remember where you left it. I’ve had many times where I couldn’t summon what I wanted because I couldn’t remember where I left it.”

Ben smirked. “Being a star is complicated.”

“Tell me about it.”

She flicked through the first few pages. “So, when a human falls in love they get documented in your files. Here is your page for you and Cindy,” she said, showing it to Ben.

He looked at it and saw nothing but pictures and memories of him and Cindy. There were pictures of the time when they took a boat out on Lake Michigan, movie stubs from all the films they saw together, photos of them kissing after watching a Colts game and after drinking way too much beer. It made Ben’s heart pang with sadness as he looked at them.

“These are great,” he mumbled, and Leslie frowned.

“Nope, nope, these are not great,” she explained. “I’ve seen volumes for humans that are in love. You just have one page. I can’t even see on here any information about her, what’s her favourite flower or movie, nothing.”

Leslie sighed loudly. “It’s a good thing I have this,” she said and turned her ring clockwise again. With another shower of golden sparks, a new binder plopped down on her lap.

“This is a binder all about Cindy’s life,” Leslie said as she set Ben’s binder on the floor and opened the new one. “Here I’ll be able to find all the information that we need on Cindy and to win her back.”

“Right. Can I have a look?”

“Nope,” Leslie quickly said, hugging it to her chest. “I’d rather just get through it quickly myself. Plus these are all things you should know already.”

Ben winced. Things he should know, but was clearly in such a depressive rut during his entire relationship he wouldn’t let Cindy make a dent on his life.

No wonder she broke up with him.

“It’s going to take me a while, there’s a lot to get through” Leslie said as she started reading the binder intensely. “Maybe a day or so.”

Ben nodded and then paused. What was he going to do while he was at work? He couldn’t leave Leslie alone again. What if she tried to burn down his apartment for a second time? 

“Give me a second,” he said to her. “Are you okay here while I make a quick call?”

Leslie nodded and continued reading.

Ben scurried into his bedroom and dialled Ann’s number. She’d know what to do. There was no way he could turn up tomorrow with Leslie on his arm. What would Chris say?

“Hello?” Ann’s melodic tone rang out.

“Ann, it’s me.”

“Oh. Hey, Ben?” Ann replied, “What’s up? How’s our new houseguest?”

“She’s fine,” Ben said. “Other than trying to burn my apartment complex down trying to cook.”

“Ouch. Well I guess it’s the thought that counts,” Ann said with a slight giggle.

“Speaking of our new friend, what am I going to do when I go to work?” Ben asked. “I can’t leave her here alone.”

“I thought we sorted that?” Ann said. “You’re going to take her to work with you?”

“What about Chris?” Ben asked, getting a little irritated.

“I’ll take care of him. I’ll say that Leslie is from my practice and is accompanying you to help lighten your work load and to make sure you don’t get stressed. It’s the perfect excuse” Ann explained.

Ben sighed. “You think that will work?”

“Ben, Chris cares about you, so if he thinks that this is going to help your mental health situation he’ll be more than happy with it,” Ann replied.

“Alright.”

“Maybe you should coax our star on how to act more human. No more flashing people?” Ann suggested, and Ben grinned.

“I’m on it,” he said, and hung up.

He walked back into the lounge relieved to see that Leslie had not moved from her position. He couldn’t help but smile as he watched her chew her thumb as she concentrated.

“Hey, can we talk quickly?” Ben asked, taking the binder from her lap and putting it on the floor.

“Sure,” Leslie replied, smiling at him and tucking her legs underneath her. “What’s up?”

“Well, you are going to come to work with me tomorrow,” Ben explained. “To City Hall, is that ok?”

Leslie nodded profusely. “Of course…City Hall…it sounds so magical.”

Ben could only think about how disappointed Leslie was going to be when she turned up to the dismal grey building. “Um…don’t get your hopes up,” he told her. “But I’m going to need you to act…more human and not so much like an almighty, powerful star.”

Leslie blushed and tucked a curl behind her ear. “Oh gosh…Stars aren’t powerful. But I understand what you mean. I’ll be Leslie the totally normal human.”

Ben grinned and patted her knee. “That’s great. And you can take all these with you. But we need to come up with a backstory for you if anyone asks any questions.”

“Ooh that will be fun,” Leslie beamed at him. “We should get some waffles…not the ones I made, but proper ones and talk about it.”

Ben nodded and got up. “I can do pancakes? Is that ok?”

Leslie thought for a moment and then nodded again. “Yes…I read about pancakes. They sound good too. Let’s do those. But can you promise you’ll let me try waffles one day?”

“Of course.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

People seemed to take notice of Ben when he walked into City Hall the next morning. Heads turned in his direction as he walked towards his office, all because of the blonde dressed in a navy pantsuit and beige blouse next to him, smiling and waving at everyone.

“Good morning,” Leslie greeted to everyone she walked past. “It’s a lovely day, don’t you think?”

No one really responded. She got a couple curt nods in reply, but that was it. Soon, she got tired, and her arm slumped by her side.

“Boy, people aren’t really that friendly here,” she mumbled to Ben.

“They’re fine. It’s just it’s really early in the morning. Humans usually need coffee to wake up,” Ben explained and pushed his office door open, letting Leslie walk through first.

“So this is my office,” Ben said as Leslie looked around.

“It’s kind of gloomy” she mused as she walked over to his desk. “You should have a plant or something here.”

“I don’t really like clutter,” Ben explained.

Leslie pouted. “You still need something to brighten it up.”

Ben directed her over to the table in the corner and placed pens and highlighters in front of her. “You can sit here. Do you need anything?”

Leslie shook her head. “Nope. I think I’m all good.”

Ben grinned. “You say that a lot don’t you.”

Leslie cocked her head to the side and frowned. “What?”

“Nope. You say that a lot, instead of just plain old no. I like it.”

Leslie blushed a little and muttered a thank you as she opened up the binder in front of her.

The door clicked open again, and Chris walked in, cocking two fingers at Ben and grinned widely.

“There’s Ben Wyatt!” he announced and walked over to him. “How are you? Did you have a good weekend? I hope your hangover wasn’t too bad on Saturday?”

“I was fine,” Ben said, giving a small smile. “Thanks for helping me get home.”

“It’s no trouble,” Chris said, and then turned, noticing Leslie in the room. 

“Hello! Good morning! You must be Ben’s new assistant that Ann was telling me all about,” Chris greeted, hurrying over to her and shaking her hand enthusiastically.

“Yes. I’m Leslie,” she said, returning the smile.

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Chris replied. “May I ask your surname? Just so that I can register you as an employee with City Hall?”

Leslie shot Ben a panicked look. Crap. Surnames. They hadn’t got that far yet.

“Nope!” Ben quickly said. “Her surname is Nope.”

Chris turned to Ben. “Nope?”

“Yeah…with a silent… K…” he trailed off. K was the first letter than popped into his head.

Chris frowned at Ben’s interruption, but still turned back to Leslie. “K-N-O-P-E…is that correct?”

Leslie looked back at Ben who nodded vigorously behind Chris’ shoulder. “Yes. Leslie Knope. That’s me.”

Chris shook her hand again. “It is wonderful to have you here, and I am so thrilled. Ann says that you will be great to help Ben, and I agree. If you need anything at all, my door is always open.”

He then turned to Ben and clapped him on the shoulder. “We have a meeting with the Education Department. We should get going.”

“Sure,” Ben replied. “Are you ok here alone?”

Leslie nodded. “Of course. I have work, I’ll be fine.”

Ben grinned and walked towards the door, not before mouthing _‘don’t touch anything’_ at her.

“Ann said she’s a little eccentric,” Chris said as they both walked down the hall together.

Ben couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, she is a little.”

“I can see it now…I mean forgetting her own surname? But I’m not one to judge at all, I’m sure she will be great for the team,” Chris said and the stopped, placing his hand on Ben’s shoulder again.

“Because, at the end of all this, she’s here to help you, and all I want is for you to be happy in your job.”

“Thank you,” Ben said shyly, looking away.

Chris nodded at Ben. “Come on. We should go.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How’re you doing?” Ben asked as he came back from his meeting. Leslie was still sat at the table and had apparently found the post-it notes that Ben had on his desk. The table was now covered with scribbled notes.

So much for not touching anything.

“Fantastically!” Leslie answered excitedly. “I think I’ve found the perfect plan to get Cindy back.”

“Alright,” Ben said as he leaned against his desk. Chris thankfully would be out for the rest of the day, giving him and Leslie the space they needed.

“I’ve compiled lists of her favourite things in the world, and then cross-referenced those with things that you both did together and then made a new list of things that she enjoyed that you both did together,” Leslie said in one breath excitedly. “And I’ve come up with a full-proof plan to show her that you love her.”

She pulled at some of the post-it notes. “Her favourite flowers are lilies, so you need to organise a bunch of flowers to be delivered to her work. There will be a note on there, telling her that you are thinking of her, and hope that she is doing great. Then you invite her out for coffee, but it has to be at The Roasted Bean because she loves the skinny lattes there; it was also the place where you made her laugh so hard coffee came out of her nose.” 

Ben chuckled at the memory, “I remember that.”

“There you will tell her how much you miss her and still care for her, and ask her out on a date,” Leslie continued. “Before she can give you an answer, you will lead her outside where will be a horse drawn carriage like in the movie ‘Enchanted’, which” Leslie produced a movie stub from the table, “was the first movie you both went to see together.”

“I loved that movie,” Ben said, remembering. “The musical score was amazing.”

“The carriage ride will take you around Ramsett Park, which is where you used to meet her sometimes during lunch where there will be two glasses of champagne waiting for you on a blanket. There you will ask her if she would like to go out to dinner with you, and quite frankly this plan is so full proof she has to say yes!”

Leslie clasped her hands together and bit her lip. “So what do you think?”

Ben found himself smiling, a smile so big that it made his cheeks hurt. “That sounds amazing. Thank you.”

Before he knew what was happening, he strode towards Leslie, pulling her into a tight hug, squeezing her gently. Leslie squeaked in surprise but still reciprocated by wrapping her arms around his back.

“It’s no trouble. It’s why I’m here after all,” Leslie said as they pulled away. “But it’s not over just yet. We actually need to put this plan into action. So come on; we’ve got a lot to do.”

She ushered Ben back towards his computer and handed him a binder. She must have made this while he was in his meeting because it felt slightly warm like it had just been printed. The title of the binder read ‘Ben and Cindy’s Make Up After the Break Up Plan.’

Ben grinned again and called up a website to order the flowers.


	4. Reconciling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for being so patient while I get this monster of a chapter sorted! 
> 
> I really couldn't have done this chapter without the help of my wonderful betas, Supervanillabear31 and Benjis-cool-times. You are both awesome!

“Are you ready?” Ben asked nervously, toying with his hands and trying not to notice the slight tremor that coursed through them.

“Yes,” Leslie said, adjusting the bouquet of lilies in her hands.

Ben looked over at the office building in front of them. Today was the day they put their plan into action. That morning, a huge bouquet of white and pink lilies turned up at City Hall with a small note for Cindy attached. As soon as they were placed on Ben’s desk, Leslie jumped up, grabbing the flowers and Ben and dragging them and Ben of the room.

He didn’t get a chance to collect his thoughts then. But now, standing in front of Cindy’s office, it all seemed too real. And it scared him. They had both put in so much work into this and she could just tell her to go away.

The plan was that Leslie would go in and deliver the flowers and note and then wait. Wait for Cindy to call. It could take days. It could take months. But they were planting a seed.

“She’s on the fourth floor,” Ben said, and Leslie nodded. “Get up there, deliver the flowers, and get out before anyone can question you.”

Leslie nodded again. “I’ve got it. I’ve been practicing what I’m going to say all night long.” Ben swallowed, and she smiled sweetly at him. “Don’t look so nervous. It’ll be fine; I promise. She’ll think this is the sweetest gesture ever.”

Before Ben could say another word, Leslie skipped merrily off towards the building, leaving Ben outside to sit on a bench and gather his thoughts.

Would Cindy like them? Would she even consider calling him? He hoped so. 

He really hoped so.

All he knew was that ever since Leslie came and put this plan in motion to get him back with Cindy, he’d finally felt more human. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took Leslie a little longer than expected to get to Cindy’s office. She pressed all the buttons of the elevator in excitement and stopped at eleven individual floors, until finally turning up at her destination.

She waved and smiled politely at everyone as she was directed to Cindy’s desk. People just stared back at her in confusion and wondered if the flowers were for them as Leslie passed by.

Then she saw her. Leslie would recognise that brown hair anywhere. The same sleek brown bob that she’d been studying for days now. That was Cindy.

She was tall and incredibly skinny, with green eyes and a stern look on her face. Leslie bet that she would look even more beautiful if she smiled. 

“Cindy Eckert?” Leslie asked, beaming at the woman.

“Yes?” Cindy responded, staring back and forth from the bouquet to Leslie.

“These are for you. I think you have an admirer,” Leslie announced, handing her the lilies. 

Cindy’s eyes lit up. “For me?” she said, a little surprised. “Who are they from?”

“There’s a card,” Leslie explained, pointing to the tiny note inside, almost unable to contain her excitement.

Cindy tugged the card free and stared at it. Leslie hoped that she’d read it out loud so that everyone could hear and start cheering and singing songs at her to go and find Ben. Sadly she kept it to herself. After a moment, though, Leslie noticed a twinkle in Cindy’s eye, and the corners of her lips perk up.

She couldn’t hold it in any longer. This was just all so exciting. She wanted to see Cindy and Ben get back together, now.

“He’s outside if you wanna talk to him?” Leslie quickly said. 

Cindy looked up. “How did –”

Before Cindy could finish her sentence, Leslie exited the office, leaving her alone with the flowers and twenty pairs of questioning eyes on her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“She has the flowers, and I told her you were outside waiting,” Leslie explained as she reached Ben a few moments later.

Ben’s eyes widened. “You told her what? Oh god. That’s not good. I’m going to be the freak waiting for her to leave the office. She won’t come out now because she’ll think I’m trying to kill her!”

“Why would she think that?” Leslie asked, the innocence burning in her eyes.

Ben sighed. “Look, that’s not romantic. Me standing outside and waiting for her when we’ve broken up is creepy. This was a mistake. This was –”

He paused, and the colour drained from his face. 

Because Cindy was walking towards him, clutching the note and smiling.

“Oh god,” Ben gasped. “Oh god, she’s walking this way. She’s looking at me!”

“Calm down,” Leslie soothed. “You’ve got this. I’ll leave you to it.”

And before Ben could stop her, Leslie had sprinted off a hid behind a nearby bush. She quickly peered out behind and gave Ben a confident thumbs up before ducking behind again.

He spun around to see Cindy standing just a few feet in front of him. She looked just as he remembered. That shoulder length brown hair he loved to run his fingers through and those soft green eyes. The scent of lavender that always seemed to follow her around hung in the air. But best of all; that sweet smile that only came out on rare occasions spread across her face.

“Hey, Ben,” Cindy said, with a kind of breathiness to her voice that Ben couldn’t quite decipher.

He swallowed nervously. “Hey, Cindy. So, you got my flowers?”

Cindy nodded. “I’m not too sure why though. What’s going on? I haven’t heard from you since… Y’know.”

“That’s why I’m here actually,” Ben cut in. “Look, I treated you terribly when we were together. I was in a haze of depression and only thought about myself. I shouldn’t have been depressed because I had an amazing person by my side through it all. And I’m so sorry. But I want to make it up to you, if you’ll let me?”

He shifted his weight between feet before finally reaching out his hand, and Cindy’s eyes dropped to it. She blushed.

“I guess I could take my lunch now,” she said, her fingers slipping into Ben’s.

Leslie watched as the couple made their way down the road and a huge smile spread across her face.

“Go get her, Ben,” she whispered to herself as she hurried in the opposite direction to make sure that the horse drawn carriage was ready to go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a good two hours later before Ben finally came back home. Leslie was very proud of herself; she’d let herself into Ben’s building all by herself and managed to unlock the door with no problem. She really wanted to tell him about her good news, but knew that there was something more important to discuss first.

“Well?” she asked as soon as Ben closed the door behind him.

Ben didn’t say anything at first; instead, he just shook his head and then rubbed the back of his neck. Leslie’s stomach dropped. It didn’t go well. She could tell. But why not? They did everything perfectly. How was Cindy not charmed by all of this?

Then she saw it, the beginning of a smile forming on Ben’s lips. It spread until he was full-on grinning.

“We’re going on a date this evening,” Ben announced, looking positively gleeful.

Leslie squealed with delight and took Ben’s hand, dragging him over to the couch. “Tell me everything. I want to know every little detail.”

“We went to The Roasted Bean like you said, and I was so scared, like I was shaking, but somehow everything just came out. I told her that I missed her and really wanted a second chance. I mean, she looked hesitant but… I don’t know. But then I asked her out on a date and told her not to give me an answer just yet, and we went outside, and there was the carriage. Thank you so much for organising that. She recognised it straight away and mentioned how ‘Enchanted’ was one of her guilty pleasures. When we got to the picnic at Ramsett Park… I can’t explain the look on her face. I’ve never seen her look so surprised or happy before. I didn’t have to ask her again. She said yes straight away!” Ben relayed back to Leslie, who listened to every word intently.

Once he finished, Leslie was unable to control herself any longer. She threw her arms around his neck excitedly.

“Oh, Ben. I’m so happy for you. I told you it would work, I knew it would!”

Ben hugged her back, letting out an ecstatic chuckle as he did so. “I couldn’t have done with without you. I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Well, our work here isn’t done just yet,” Leslie said as she pulled back. “You still aren’t officially together. When’s the date?”

“Tomorrow night,” Ben replied. “Oh god. I should start preparing now. I need to find somewhere to go. Should I get a suit dry-cleaned?”

“All taken care of,” Leslie announced as she reached behind the couch and pulled out a new binder that she’d worked on while waiting for Ben. “Read this. It will have all the information you’ll need.”

Ben opened it to the first page. Inside were directions to get to a Mediterranean restaurant just outside of Pawnee, a drawing of the exact suit he should wear, and a receipt for another bunch of flowers that would be delivered to her house an hour before the date.

“Wow. You really think of everything, don’t you?” Ben asked.

Leslie blushed a little and shrugged. “It’s my duty to help you. I have to do a good job.”

Ben grinned at her. “I really do appreciate all of this. This is honestly the happiest I’ve felt in a long time, and I’m not even back together with Cindy yet. The thought of just getting to spend time with her again is thrilling.”

Leslie patted his hand. “You will do great. I guarantee by tomorrow night you and Cindy will be going out for a second date and well on the way to being a couple again.”

Ben nodded in agreement. “I really hope so.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben could hear the sniffles coming from the lounge as he adjusted his tie and sighed. Poor Leslie. She had come down with a cold that morning. She didn’t understand what was going on or why her throat hurt so badly. Ben tried to explain to her what was happening and that it was completely normal for people on Earth to get colds, but she still looked so miserable, so he dosed her up with medicine.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Ben asked as he walked back out into the lounge, where Leslie was tucked up on the couch with a navy blanket around her shoulders. “I can cancel if you want me to stay?”

“No. Don’t be silly,” Leslie quickly waved him off. “I’ll be fine. I can’t not let you go on your date. What kind of Star-Guardian would I be if I did that?”

Ben’s eyes fell to Leslie. For the first time since knowing her, she seemed to have lost her sparkle. The soft golden glow that used to shine around her had dimmed significantly, and she looked pale, all except for her nose, which was slowly turning a bright shade of red.

“Do stars get sick?” Ben asked as he sat next to Leslie.

Leslie thought for a moment. “No. This must be a side effect of coming to Earth. It’s fine. This is the worst it’s going to get, right?”

Ben patted her shoulder sympathetically. “Yeah. It’ll probably be gone by tomorrow morning. Promise.”

Leslie blew her nose and looked up at Ben, just noticing that he was all dressed up to go. “Oh, look at you! Very handsome.”

“Thank you,” Ben grinned as he modelled his suit for her.

“You’re going to have such a magical time tonight. I promise. Tonight is just the start of your new life together,” Leslie said, before a new round of sneezing took over. She sniffled again into a well-used tissue, and Ben pushed back her sweaty hair to feel her forehead.

“You’re really burning up. Do you want to go to bed?”

Leslie quickly shook her head. “I’m fine. I don’t want to sleep. Plus I told you; stars don’t need that much sleep anyway.”

Ben sighed. “Alright, if you do feel bad, take my bed. It’s better than the couch, and I don’t want to wake you up.”

“Thank you, but I’m sure I will be awake when you get back. I want to hear about everything,” Leslie insisted as she smiled at Ben. “Go on. Get out of here. She’ll be waiting for you.”

Ben acted almost on instinct. He wasn’t sure if it was because Leslie looked so adorable when she was sick or just because he wanted to offer her some comfort before he left, but he found himself leaning forward and kissing her forehead softly.

“I won’t be too late. I promise,” Ben said kindly, and Leslie nodded.

“Go. Have fun,” she said as she ushered him towards the door.

As Ben drove to pick Cindy up, he couldn’t help but think about Leslie. He felt terrible. He should be at home right now, looking after his poor, sick houseguest. But, at the same time, it wouldn’t look great if he stood Cindy up for another girl, considering that the plan was to get back together with her.

He didn’t understand why Leslie was sick. She was supposed to be invincible, right? A supernatural being from the skies that could summon things in an instant. Surely things like that didn’t get sick.

Ben shrugged. Pawnee flus and colds were notorious for bringing down even the strongest of people. Maybe, supernatural being or not, no one could ever avoid the dreaded Pawnee cold.

He pulled outside Cindy’s home and parked up. With one last adjustment to his tie, he climbed out and took a deep breath as he knocked on her door.

Cindy opened it, looking breathtaking. Her hair shimmered in the dim light of her hallway, she was wearing a tight fitting red dress and lipstick to match. She smiled softly at him, and Ben’s heart bounced in his chest.

“Hi. Thank you for the flowers, I’m going to run out of space in my lounge if you send me anymore,” she joked. Although Ben could have sworn there was bitterness in her voice.

“I’m glad you liked them.” Ben smiled awkwardly, putting that comment to the back of his mind. “Are you ready to go?”

Cindy nodded and closed the door. “Will we be going by horse and carriage again?”

Ben chuckled. “Nope, it’s just my Saturn this time.”

He thought that might spark another comment from Cindy, but instead he felt relieved as she tucked her arm in the crook of his.

“Lead on,” she said, and Ben opened the door to the passenger side.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I have to admit, I am a little surprised by all this,” Cindy said as she sipped her red wine. “You weren’t ever a big showy guy, but turning up at my office today and making a big spectacle like that… What’s changed?”

Ben lowered his own glass. “Well, therapy has helped. It made me realise that I need to let go what happened all those years ago. It affected my life, and I was sick of it, so, all of this is just my way to say that I’m sorry, and I miss you.”

He reached over and took her hand in his. “You were the best thing that ever happened to me, Cindy, and just being out on a date with you again has made me the happiest man alive. I don’t want to rush you, but I would love it if we could re-think all of this and give it another go?”

Cindy paused for a moment, but her lips slowly crept up into a smile. “Maybe if we went on a few more dates?” she suggested. “So I can get to know the new you.”

Ben nodded gratefully. “Okay, I can agree to that.”

Cindy grinned. “Oh, and who was that flower girl you sent yesterday? She seemed to know a lot about us. Did you brief her on the situation before she delivered the flowers?”

Ben felt his cheeks grow hot. “She’s… Um… She’s actually my therapist’s…assistant. She’s been helping me with work and stuff and wanted to be a part of this. She offered to take the flowers to your office, and I thought it would be a good idea.”

“Well, she was very good; I’ll give her that,” Cindy said, taking another sip from her glass.

“Yeah. She’s good alright,” Ben agreed, his thoughts travelling to Leslie. Should he call her? Make sure that she’s ok and is lying down? No, she’d be fine; she told him that herself.

Before he could give it a second thought, the waiter bought over their appetisers. As Ben looked over at the food and watched in delight as Cindy tried some of hers and told him how tasty it was, he thought it would be best just to talk to Leslie later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben opened the door as silently as he could to try and not wake Leslie, but as he walked into the apartment he was surprised to see all the lights on, but no sign of her.

“Leslie?” he called as he stepped closer into the lounge. She was nowhere to be seen.

Then he heard it.

A gagging sound coming from the bathroom.

Ben immediately bolted into the restroom to see Leslie curled up on the bathroom floor, her head hanging weakly into the toilet bowl as she whimpered quietly.

“Good lord,” Ben gasped, dropping to her side.

“I’m so sorry,” Leslie sobbed as Ben helped her back upright. “I started feeling really funny so I called Ann, and she said if I was going to be sick to make sure I did it in the toilet, so I just sat here all night and…” she trailed off with another sob.

Ben looked briefly into the toilet and grimaced. Yep, she had most definitely been sick. He flushed it and pulled Leslie into a soothing hug.

“It’s okay. You’re okay,” he told her. “This happens sometimes. It’s completely normal.”

Leslie nuzzled into his chest, and Ben pulled her in tighter. He shouldn’t have left her tonight, not when she was like this. He felt terrible.

“We need to get you into bed, okay?” he said, and Leslie nodded.

It took a while for her to find strength to move, but even then her legs were wobbly. Ben ended up scooping her into his arms and carrying her into his bedroom.

“This is your bed,” Leslie protested as Ben put her back on her feet. “I can’t sleep here.”

“Yes you can. I should’ve offered you my bed in the first place,” Ben admitted. “It’s a really comfy bed, better than the couch.”

He pulled back the covers to let Leslie slide in, but she was still looking defiant about not sleeping there.

“I don’t want to,” Leslie said. “I’ll be fine on the couch. This is _your_ bed.”

“It’s my bed, and I can do what I want with it. So, I’m giving it to you,” Ben said, folding his arms.

Leslie scowled at him and then turned a pale green. She clasped a hand over her mouth and took a few deeps breaths, and Ben hurried to her side, rubbing her back and asking if she needed a bucket.

“Fine. You win. I’ll sleep in here for tonight,” Leslie mumbled once the sickness had passed.

Ben chuckled and guided her towards the bed. Leslie climbed onto it and let Ben tuck her in. He placed a glass of water and bucket by her side just in case.

“I’ll be in the lounge; shout if you need me,” Ben said. But as he tried to leave, he felt a small hand reach out and grab his shirtsleeve.

“Can you stay with me? Just for a little bit? I don’t want to be alone,” Leslie mumbled weakly.

Ben looked at her. Leslie was clearly exhausted and just needed to go to bed. If sleeping next to her meant that she would get the sleep she needed to get her health back, then he’d make that sacrifice.

Well… It wasn’t really a sacrifice. But it didn’t look great that he just went on an amazing date with Cindy and would now be sharing a bed with another woman.

But, Ben had a few glasses of wine at dinner, and his head was swirling just a tiny bit. Sleeping in a bed sounded like heaven right now.

“Alright, give me a second,” he said as he stepped out to the bathroom to change into pyjamas.

In a few minutes, he was back in the bedroom. Leslie was curled up in a ball and facing him, the colour still drained from her usually peachy face.

“You never told me how it went?” Leslie asked, and Ben shushed her.

“I’ll tell you all about it in the morning. You need sleep,” he said, and, right on cue, Leslie yawned.

“Fine. You drive a hard bargain,” she said drearily. “I really hope it went well, though.”

Ben smiled sleepily. “It did. And I have you to thank.”

He reached out and combed back her blonde hair. It felt so unbelievably soft. This was what he’d imagine clouds felt like. It felt so good that he found himself stroking her hair in a rhythmic pattern.

A gentle snore broke him out of his trance, and he saw that Leslie was fast asleep against him, her mouth parted open slightly. She looked so peaceful.

Ben grinned and carried on stroking her hair. “Sleep tight, Leslie,” he whispered as he settled down next to her.

Tomorrow morning, he would make her chicken soup and spend the day looking after her. After all, she’d just helped him almost get the woman of his dreams back. It was the least he could do for her.


	5. Finding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since I've updated this. But you get a long chapter to make up for it - plus star sex!
> 
> Thanks so much to my two amazing betas - Supervanillabear31 and BenjisCoolTimes. Without them my world and writing would just be a mess, so I owe them so much.

_Two weeks earlier._

Eridanus never really liked daytime. 

She didn’t shine as bright during the day; in fact, no one saw her at all. She was used to seeing faces smiling back up at her, pointing at her and admiring her shine, but now…nothing.

All she could do was watch as the humans way down below went about their days. 

As much as she hated just lying around, waiting to feel important again, she enjoyed watching the humans. It was fascinating watching how they lived, so fascinating that Eridanus started fantasising about going down and joining them one day. 

Her life in the skies seemed so boring compared to theirs on earth They got into strange machines that moved along the roads. They ate with weird weapons in their hands. They were interesting.

It didn’t matter that she basically studied them all day. She knew everything about everyone who passed underneath her, but learning wasn’t always all that it was cracked up to be, not when she was aching to go down for just a day.

Eridanus started studying the human world, making up names for items that she saw. Were they right? She’d never know. She wanted to collect the strange things she saw on a daily basis and marvel at them.

The other stars didn’t understand. They told her that up here is where she needed to be, and she should get her head out of the atmosphere.

Eridanus didn’t listen. She couldn’t. Not when there was so much to see and discover.

She’d almost given up all hope of ever being able to go down to the human world, when she heard someone shouting. It was a night where she shone bright and travelled around the dark sky, dancing and twirling in the clouds. She paused her dance and looked down. Someone was looking up at her, yelling in her direction. 

He was incredibly handsome, brown hair and a taut, narrow body, but very unsteady on his feet. She listened as he called up to her, begging for help, for someone to love him.

It was his dark brown eyes that made her insides bubble. They were perfect. Sparkling almost. Mesmerising. 

Eridanus straightened up. Oh, that poor man. He was desperate for some affection. Eridanus knew she couldn’t leave him, not after hearing that.

She hurried back to her quarters, grabbing any binder she could find on the man. He was pretty easy to identify, and soon Eridanus had his case file in her hands.

Ben Wyatt.

Eridanus spent the night learning all about him, all of the things he liked and didn’t like. Before dawn broke, she was filled to the brim with knowledge about this Ben.

She could see the orange sun rise and the sky turn pink. She had to act now if she was going to help him.

With a shaky breath, she stood on the edge of a cloud. She’d never fallen before, only had heard stories about it.

She had left a note for her sisters, explaining why she had to go and that she’d see them again sometime soon. 

With a deep breath, she spread out her arms and fell.

It was possibly selfish. Eridanus had wanted to go to Earth more than anything. But the cry for help she heard made her want to change a life for the better. 

She was bored of flying anyway. She wanted to stay grounded like humans were.

~~

Leslie remained sick for the next week.

Ben wasn’t sure what to do. He’d cooked her his mother’s chicken soup, which always did the trick when he was feeling under the weather, and nothing happened. Even medication didn’t seem to make a dent on her.

Were stars unaffected by human medicine? 

It was painful to watch, to see Leslie growing sicker every day. She became weak and zapped of energy. All she could do was lie in Ben’s bed, her breathing weak and raspy.

After eight days of it, Ben realised he couldn’t sit around waiting for Leslie to get better. He had to take action.

“Is there anything we can do?” he asked, perching on the edge of the bed, where Leslie was bundled up in the middle. “Like, can we call your star friends or something? Is there some sort of star medication you can take?”

Leslie sighed. “There’s something. But I can only get it if someone brings it down for me.”

“Great. Well, can we contact someone? Is that possible?” Ben said, trying to get up from the bed, but Leslie shot forward, grabbing hold of his arm.

“No! Don’t,” Leslie cried out, sparking a coughing fit. She spluttered into the blankets, and Ben settled back down next to her, rubbing her back in circular motions.

“Please don’t,” Leslie managed to choke out once the coughing subsided. “They… My sisters will be so mad at me.”

“Because you came to Earth?” Ben guessed.

Leslie nodded. 

“Well, surely they’d understand? I’d take the blame for it and everything. I’ll just say that I’m a poor pathetic case and that you wanted to help me. Besides, Cindy and I are back together and stronger than ever. You’ll be back in the skies before you know it.”

“Yeah…” Leslie mumbled sadly, looking away.

Ben shifted again, taking one of her dainty hands in his. “Look, you’re really sick, and you aren’t getting any better. Can we just contact one of your…sisters? And we can get this medication for you. Will you do that for me?”

Leslie took a deep breath and looked back at Ben. God, she couldn’t say no to those eyes. They were the same eyes she saw the night she came down.

“Alright. I’ll do it for you,” Leslie agreed. She twirled the gold gemstone five times on her finger, and laid back into the pillows.

“I’ve sent a distress signal. Someone should be here soon,” Leslie explained, her eyes drooping.

“Okay. I’ll wait for them. In the meantime, you need to get some sleep,” Ben said. He adjusted the covers back over her and fluffed the pillows.

“You’ll be ok soon. I promise,” Ben said, stroking her soft hair as Leslie fell back into a peaceful slumber.

~~

Ben sat in the lounge, flipping through news articles on his iPad while he waited for the visitors to come. All the while, he couldn’t help but think about what he said to Leslie.

Soon, he wouldn’t need her anymore. Cindy was a jealous type, and she sure as hell wouldn’t like Ben living with Leslie. He’d have to send her on her way sooner or later, but surely she didn’t want to stay here. Compared to where she came from, Earth must be so boring. They didn’t jump from cloud to cloud and dance around in the skies; they just walked everywhere. Ben knew that he’d choose being a star over a dull human any day.

But, every time he thought about Leslie leaving, his stomach sank.

Because she’d become a part of him. 

That tiny, bubbly roommate who occasionally tried to set fire to the place. She was a permanent fixture in his life now, and saying goodbye wasn’t going to be easy after all.

He looked over to the direction of the bedroom. It was one thing at a time. Right now, he had to figure out how to make her healthy again before figuring out what to do and how to keep Leslie in his life but also keep Cindy happy.

“Is this the place?”

Ben jumped out of his skin at the sound of a voice behind him. He spun around and saw two women standing behind the couch. Both were stark naked.

“What the-?”

“Oh, hello!” The blonde one said, walking forward, and Ben had to look the other way to avoid staring. She frowned. “Oh, I remember. Humans like clothes. Two seconds.”

In a flash, both she and her accomplice were wearing matching dresses. The blonde woman smiled and nodded.

“Ok. Hello. We received a distress call from one of our sisters,” the woman explained. “I’m Eridanus.”

“And I’m Eridanus,” the other woman, a brunette with a stern face, said.

Ben blinked. Of course, all stars had the same name. He’d been so used to calling his star Leslie that he forgot her real name. 

“He looks confused,” the brunette woman said, rolling her eyes. “Humans really are pathetic. I read that we should have human names so they can process information.”

The blonde woman nodded. “Alright, good thing we have human names picked out. You can call me Ingrid,” the woman addressed Ben with a smile.

“And I’ll be Lindsay,” the brunette said with a disgruntled frown. “I’m assuming our sister is here?”

Ben quickly nodded. “Y-yeah, she’s through here. She’s been here for about two weeks, and she’s just gotten really sick. She came to help me, so please don’t be mad at her.”

“We’re not mad,” Ingrid said. “We’ve known her for a long time. Let us go see her, and we’ll determine what to do.”

Ben nodded and showed them through to the bedroom. Leslie was still fast asleep, mumbling cutely and sniffing into the covers. Ingrid walked to her side and rested a hand on her forehead.

“This isn’t good,” Ingrid tutted. She beckoned for Lindsay to come closer, and the two started muttering.

Ben hovered awkwardly in the doorway. “Um. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“You’ve done plenty already,” Lindsay snapped, and Ingrid glared at her.

“No, thank you,” Ingrid said politely. “We’ve got this covered.”

Just at that moment, Leslie stirred, and her bright blue eyes slowly opened. She looked at Ingrid and Lindsay blearily as she sat up.

“Sisters?”

“Yes, honey, it’s us,” Ingrid said sweetly. “We’re here, we’re going to help you feel better.”

“And find out what the fuck made you come to this shithole,” Lindsay sneered, looking back at Ben from the corner of her eye.

“Should… Should I give you some privacy?” Ben asked, teetering on his heels.

“I think that would be best,” Ingrid said. “We’ll see to her and talk later.”

Lindsay walked towards the door and gave Ben a shove, moving him away from the frame. “Yeah. We’ll talk later,” she pouted, giving him another aggressive look before closing the door.

~~

The stars were with Leslie for maybe an hour before they finally came out. Ingrid was wiping her hands on the hem of her dress, and Lindsay was behind her, arms folded and scowling.

“Is everything ok?” Ben asked, standing immediately. “Will she get better now?”

“Eri… Leslie is in a serious condition right now,” Ingrid said, lacing her hands together. “We stars aren’t supposed to be on Earth for this long. She’s spent so long here that the transformation has already begun.”

“Transformation?” Ben questioned.

Ingrid nodded. “When stars come to Earth, usually it’s on their own accord. However, the longer they stay here and eat your food, drink your water, they start to turn human, usually through the form of an illness. Right now, Leslie’s body is deteriorating, ridding her from all of her supernatural abilities and making her mortal. It’s a painless process, but it will tire you out. If she doesn’t come back home soon, then she’ll become completely human.”

Ben looked at Ingrid, his mouth wide open. He had no idea about this. He had no idea that Leslie would turn human the longer that she stayed on Earth. If he knew that, he would have sent her away a long time ago. 

“Did Leslie know about this?” he asked, wanting to know more.

“Of course she knew, stupid,” Lindsay growled. “It’s common knowledge, but that still didn’t stop her from coming just to see you. We should’ve known that she was planning something. She’d been quiet for weeks and kept babbling about Earth and how she wanted to go one day. We all told her to stop being crazy. Next thing we knew, her quarters were empty, and there was a note saying that she was going to help someone.”

“She’s always loved the human world,” Ingrid cut in. “That’s the only thing she’s ever spoken about. So, naturally, as soon as she got the chance to go, she jumped at it.”

Ben stared wide-eyed at the two stars. “Are you seriously telling me that Leslie came to Earth just to help me? Even though it would harm her?”

Ingrid hesitated. “You might have been an excuse for her to come here,” she admitted. “She tried so many times to go down. She wanted to help people who were injured and celebrate with people who were happy. All she wanted was to go down and have a taste for the human life. You might have been so pathetically miserable she couldn’t bear it anymore and took the plunge.”

Ben blinked. No, he wasn’t hearing this. Leslie didn’t use him as an excuse to come to Earth. She came to help him. She wouldn’t be that selfish…would she?

“There’s one way to get her to come back,” Ingrid said. From the pocket of her white dress, she produced a small purple vial. She pressed it into Ben’s hand and clasped his fingers over it.

“This isn’t the first time one of our own has tried to break free and come to Earth, and it won’t be the last. Our elders made this potion so that any star can go back to their original state, but for it to take effect, she’ll have to leave immediately. If she takes it, then she’ll be back with us before sundown tomorrow,” Ingrid explained.

Ben looked down at the small purple vial. This was a situation that had gotten way out of hand. He should have never let Leslie help him, he should have never let her into his life, especially if that meant completely altering hers for the worse.

“We have to go,” Ingrid sighed. “The longer we stay here, the sooner we’ll have the same fate as Leslie.”

She patted Ben’s arm. “If you can’t convince her to come back, take care of her.”

Ingrid slowly walked past Ben, while Lindsay brushed past him aggressively. 

~~

Ben swallowed hard and clenched the vial so that the cork buried into his palm, leaving an indent. Yesterday, Leslie was a star who came to help him, and she did, but now she was just using him as a way to come to Earth.

Well, that wasn’t going to happen now. She’d most definitely overstayed her welcome.

He opened the door to her room. Leslie was still in the same position he left her in before, lying on the pillows, her blonde hair splayed out over them. Her eyes peeled back and she smiled softly.

“Hi.”

“We need to talk,” Ben said, closing the door behind him. “Because I’ve just learned some very interesting information about stars. About how they aren’t supposed to be on Earth for any longer than about a day, but yet you’ve been here for over a week, and it’s killing you.”

“It’s not,” Leslie said, wincing as she pushed herself up from the covers. “I want to be here. None of this bothers me; it really doesn’t. As long as I get to see you happy.”

“Please,” Ben scoffed. “You don’t care about any of that. Your sisters told me all about how you’ve wanted to come to Earth for years. You don’t care about me. I was just your ticket out of there. How do you think that makes me feel? Knowing that all of this, you helping me get back together with Cindy, you actually making me believe that you cared, was fake?”

Leslie was horrified. She clenched the covers around her. “It’s not like that, Ben. I saw you in need, I wanted to come help.”

“Yeah, ok. You did help, and we’re back together now, but what happens next? Because you can’t stay here. Did you really think that you’d be able to be a freeloading star for the rest of your life?” Ben snapped.

Leslie’s eyes filled with tears. “No! Of course not! Look, Ben, it’s true. I’ve always wanted to come to Earth, but I never saw you as my ticket out of there. I wanted to help you, and we’ve formed such a great bond together, but I’ll move out, I’ll go live with Ann or something. I… just please don’t make me go back. I’m so happy here.”

Ben’s jaw tightened, and he tossed the vial onto the bed. “Your sisters gave me this. They said if you take it then you’ll be back to normal, and you’ll be able to go back home. I think it would be best for both of us if you drank that and left.”

Leslie reached out and touched the bottle. “Don’t I get a say in any of this?”

“You’ve had your say,” Ben countered. “You can’t just give up your entire life to live here. You have no money, no job. You won’t survive, and I can’t help you anymore.”

Leslie choked back a sob. “Why are you being like this? This isn’t your choice to make. I want to stay here, Ben. With you, with Ann, with Chris and everyone else that I’ve met. This is what I want.”

Ben started pacing the bedroom, rubbing a hand across his forehead. “But what’s so great here? You had everything back home. There’s no reason for you to pass all of that up just to live in this crappy town. What is it? What’s the real reason? What’s keeping you here?”

Leslie opened her mouth, but immediately closed it, looking down at the sheets. “It’s…nothing.”

“No,” Ben snarled, moving closer to her, towering over her tiny frame. “What is so fucking special about this shithole that you think is worth throwing everything away for?”

_“Because I love you, dammit!”_

Leslie clapped a hand over her mouth in surprise, and Ben’s eyes widened. He slowly back away from the bed, not once taking his eyes off Leslie. 

“You…what?”

Tears poured out of Leslie’s eyes. “I…love you. Maybe from the moment I laid eyes on you. There you were, just this sad, lonely human with big brown eyes and nothing shy of a heart of gold…I… I just wanted to help. And now I’ve had time to process everything, and I see it. I see how happy you are, and I’ve had a part of that.”

“But…” Ben stammered, trying to take deep breaths. “You…you helped me with Cindy?”

“I thought we used to be friends. But after I saw how hard you worked with her, and how kind and sweet you were to me…things changed, and I don’t really know what to do. Because you’re here telling me to leave and that you don’t care, and that’s probably for the best. I’ve ruined everything by telling you this,” Leslie sobbed.

Before Ben could stop her, she grabbed the bottle from the bed and yanked the cork off. She was just about to lift it up to her lips when he retaliated, slapping the vial out of her hand so that it clattered to the floor. A perfumed liquid seeped out onto the floorboards.

Leslie looked alarmed. “What-?”

The rest of her sentence was drowned out by Ben pressing his lips against hers. 

Leslie let out a surprised squeak as she felt the bed shift. Ben sat opposite her, his lips not leaving hers once. She wasn’t sure if this was all real, that Ben was currently kissing her, that his hand was cupping her cheek and sliding back into her hair.

She kneeled up so that the covers slid off her and gave her room to place her hands on Ben. She braced them on his chest, pulling at his cotton shirt.

Ben pushed her gently and she fell back into the pillows with a soft thump. He crawled up her body, lips once again meeting hers, his tongue greedily sliding through the gap in her lips.

Things were happening far too quickly for either of them to even comprehend it all. Ben had his hand resting on her breast, palming and squeezing while he moaned into her mouth, and Leslie’s hands rested on his hips, pulling him down onto her.

Ben tugged at Leslie’s pyjama top and pulled it over her head. He grinned as he was met with the sight of her breasts, remembering the first time he saw them, completely by accident.

“What?” Leslie asked, noticing his grin.

“I was just thinking about when we first met,” Ben said, burying his face into her breasts and kissing a nipple. 

Leslie breathed in sharply as she felt Ben’s lips against her breasts. This wasn’t new. She’d been intimate with her own kind before him, but this was different. Like parts of her body were suddenly ignited with some kind of cold heat. She assumed that this must be how humans are intimate with each other.

She wanted to learn everything about it. The way it made her feel only heightened her curiosity.

Ben pulled down her baggy pyjamas bottoms, looking at her all over. His hand wandered down from her breast to her stomach, causing Leslie to squirm underneath him.

He couldn’t take it any longer. Passion grabbed ahold of him with a fervour he couldn’t contain. Leslie wasn’t wearing any underwear. Apparently, she never grasped the concept of them.

Ben hitched her legs over his shoulders and buried himself in her puss, causing Leslie to cry out loudly. Her taste was different, which he’d almost expected, given her extra-terrestrial-ness. Other girls tasted like warmth and soft, soapy skin, but Leslie, tasted just a little bit cold, like Ben was licking the tip of an ice cube. 

It intrigued him, and, if anything, spurred him on more. The longer he stayed down there, tongue circling inside of her, the more he found out that the coldness hung around, closely followed by a sort of metallic taste. Strange, but wonderful nonetheless.

Leslie was burying her face in the cushions around her, mewling into them as Ben helped her climax. Soon, she was grinding into his face, hips bucking upwards and moaning loudly.

Ben sat up smugly, wiping his mouth quickly, and climbing back up to her, his lips colliding with hers once again.

Without hesitation, he pushed into her until their bodies were flush. Leslie’s nails dug into Ben’s back as he thrust in and out, every now and then pulling completely out and teasing her entrance, before pushing all the way back in.

Leslie moaned and writhed underneath him, begging for more. Ben’s hand travelled down her flat stomach to where their bodies were joined. Curiously got the better of him, and he wanted to see if there was a little spot here that would relieve her.

His fingers padded around, until he felt something, and Leslie let out a noticeably animalistic noise. Ok, there was definitely some sort of clitoris here.

He judged by her noises as the pad of his finger circled around the soft spot, and Leslie moaned harder, her eyes clenched shut. She gasped as she pulsated around Ben.

He grunted and began to thrust harder, in and out, in and out, until he felt the stirring inside his lower belly that grew too much to handle. Soon, he released into Leslie with an exhale and buried his face in the crook of her neck, collapsing on top of her.

It took a while for either of them to move as they processed what just happened. Ben felt himself soften and slip out of her, so he took that as the chance to move off of her. 

He slowly rolled away from her, fingers rubbing his eyelids, when Leslie spoke up.

“Um, Ben? You might want to clean up.”

Ben opened his eyes, about to ask why, when he saw it.

Glitter was everywhere, all over the bed, his sheets, and his penis. 

His eyes widened. “Oh my god! What the hell is this? Where did all this glitter come from?”

“It’s not _glitter,_ ” Leslie scoffed, sounding a little offended. “It’s stardust.”

Ben frowned, his fingers tracing some of the stardust on the bed. It didn’t feel like glitter, not coarse and rough against his fingertips, but rather, silky smooth. 

Ben looked up at her, probably the most confused he had ever been in his life. Of course, when personified star-people have an orgasm, they release stardust. That was normal.

When the shock of the sparkling substance subsided, Ben found himself chuckling. There was nothing normal about any of this. Hell, the day Leslie entered his life, it was nothing but chaotic.

“Do I have some on my face?” Ben asked, turning to Leslie.

She bit her lip and nodded. “Yeah, all over your mouth.”

Ben sighed. “Alright, well, I better get in the shower then,” he said as he stood up, walking towards the bathroom.

The guilt hit as soon as the warm water poured down on him. What the hell had he done? He’d just had sex with Leslie, they didn’t use a condom, and, worst of all, he’d cheated on Cindy.

Ben wasn’t the kind of person to cheat. He was better than that. Or at least he thought he was.

Tears brimmed in his eyes. He didn’t like keeping secrets. Tomorrow, he’d go to Cindy, and he’d tell her everything and face whatever fate had in store.

He dried off and walked back into his bedroom. Leslie was slumped against her pillows, fast asleep. Of course she was. She was still sick, so the fact that she was nocturnal was completely irrelevant now.

Ben was about to grab a fresh pair of pyjamas to sleep on the couch in, when Leslie shifted. Her eyes opened and she squinted as she adjusted to the light.

“Ben? Where are you going?”

“Oh, I thought it would be best if I slept in the lounge tonight, because… y’know,” Ben mumbled, trying to slip out.

“No, please, stay here with me?” Leslie said. “I don’t want you to be alone tonight.”

Ben bit his lip. She was right. He didn’t want to be alone. He was scared of it; his thoughts would turn dark and he’d end up just hating himself for the entire night.

He pulled on his pyjamas and slipped under the covers. Stardust still littered the sheets, but Ben didn’t care. He had a feeling that it was going to be with him for a long time and he’d fail to get the sparkles out of his clothes for weeks.

It would be like the time Tom gave him some skin care products that he had laced with glitter to try and cheer him up.

Leslie was quick to drift back off to sleep, but Ben stayed awake for a little while longer. He stared at the ceiling and then down at Leslie who had her back to him.

Suddenly, he became so overwhelmed with emotion that he couldn’t take it anymore. He wrapped his arm around her front and pulled her closer to him, breathing in the vanilla scent on her hair.

He knew that he’d cheated, and of course it was so wrong, and he felt terrible. But suddenly, he felt that all this time chasing Cindy and getting back together with her, might have been a waste.

No, it wasn’t a waste, because without that chasing, he never would’ve gotten to meet Leslie.

All of a sudden, it wasn’t about admitting his mistakes. It was about choosing the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. The woman who dumped him when he needed her the most, or the woman who would give up a perfect life, to slum it with him.

Things seemed even more complicated than before.


	6. Realising

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! So this is the last chapter, but there will be a small epilogue to follow in a few days!
> 
> I really hope you enjoy this chapter. Comments and kudos really do go a long way, so if you like this story, please make sure you leave something behind so I can see.

Ben woke the next morning feeling miserable. There was what felt like a huge weight on his chest as he sat up.

He had cheated. There was no other explanation for what happened last night. Emotions took over and he found himself sleeping with Leslie. 

His stomach churned. He’d be seeing Cindy later today, they were supposed to be going for lunch. He’d have to tell her in the middle of a crowded restaurant. He couldn’t keep it from her, he was terrible at keeping secrets, and she was always good at worming them out of him.

Ben smacked his lips together as he rubbed his eyes. He looked to the side. Leslie was still out for the count. 

A few weeks ago, this woman was waking him up by trying to burn down his apartment by cooking, he’d go to the bathroom in the middle of the night to see her wrapped in a blanket, reading an encyclopedia with fascination. But now, she was sick and exhausted, but she was willing to put herself through all this, just to stay with him.

He didn’t deserve her, and she didn’t deserve his stupid and selfish ass.

Wracked with guilt, Ben climbed out of bed, leaving Leslie at peace. He took a deep breath as he walked over to his underwear drawer and opened it. Slowly, he pulled out a small box, a box that was supposed to go to Cindy before she left him.

It was going to be the stupidest proposal, Ben saw that now. He felt so awful after the trip to Partridge that as soon as they got back he bought the ring. He was going to take her out on the lake by Ramsett Park and apologise for everything, for Ice Town and his depression, then he’d propose.

They went out for dinner a few nights before, where she dumped him, leaving him alone with a ring.

Ben had shoved it in the depths of his underwear drawer, under a pile of boxer-briefs with holes in that he didn’t wear anymore. He couldn’t even stomach going to return the ring, instead, it lay there, taunting him.

He’d forgotten all about it until things started going well with Cindy again. He remembered the diamond ring buried in his drawer, and thought about giving it a few months before trying again. This time, he’d come right out with it, no fumbling around with dinners or a surprise boat on the lake. He’d just ask her.

But now, he knew he’d say no, especially after this.

Ben shoved the box back in the drawer and rubbed his chin. He needed to tell her now, the guilt was unbearable. He pulled on a shirt at random and fetched his jeans from the back of a chair. He quickly scribbled Leslie a note, letting her know that he needed to clear his head (and conscience) but would be back soon.

Once the freshness of the cold morning air hit him, Ben felt himself break. He didn’t want to, not outside of his apartment building anyway. He hurried to his car and quickly climbed inside, slamming the door shut.

It wasn’t fair to let Leslie stay, he knew that. She was weak, sick. But last night made him want to tell her to stay forever, to sleep in his bed, to share a bottle of wine with him. She wanted to become human, but it was a painful process to do so, and something he didn’t want her to have to go through.

On the other hand, there was Cindy. The girl he kept forgetting about. The girl who he worked so hard to get back and adored more than anything.

But he wasn’t sure if it was love anymore, it was just lust. Lust that was slowly dimming.

It was the thought that this was his second chance with Cindy that he wanted to be honest, if they could get through this, then she’d be the one he was meant to be with.

And that would mean having to tell Leslie to go.

He swiped at his eyes and started his car. He needed to talk to Cindy.

~~

Ben hurried towards her door and banged on it. The sun had only risen a few hours ago, he assumed that she was still in bed. 

Sure enough, Cindy opened the door a crack and peered around it. She looked bleary eyed, and Ben could make out the lilac silk lingerie she was wearing.

“Ben?” Cindy mumbled, her eyes widening a little. “What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you,” Ben said nervously. “Can I come in?”

Cindy bit her lip. “This isn’t really a good time.”

Ben was about to ask what was wrong when he saw it. A pair of men’s shoes through the crack in the door way.

His stomach dropped. He looked up at Cindy with a hurt look on his face.

“Do you have someone here?”

Cindy pursed her lips and didn’t answer.

Ben didn’t know how to continue. He just stared at Cindy while she looked back at him with no remorse. She’d cheated on him, just like he’d done to her, but unlike him, she didn’t care. She wasn’t wracked with guilt.

“Did you sleep with him?” Ben asked, his voice cracking.

Cindy sighed and rolled her eyes. “Yes. Look, I’m sorry. But we were never exclusive, right? We’ve only been dating again for three weeks. I wanted to keep my options open in case it didn’t work out again. Let’s face it, I didn’t have that much hope, I just thought you were lonely.”

Ben was taken aback. He stared at her, angry and hurt. “I didn’t do all of those things because I was lonely, I did them because I wanted you back, because I loved you! I don’t pay extortionate amount for flowers or for carriage rides because of that. And this is how you act? By sleeping with someone else?”

“You weren’t sleeping with me,” Cindy said bluntly. “After our first date you just kissed me on the cheek and hurried back home. How was I supposed to feel?”

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this,” Ben growled. “You’re using all this against me because I wanted to take things slow? Forgive me, but I was playing it safe because I didn’t want to blow it again.”

Cindy opened her mouth to speak, but soon closed it, her eyes dropped to her feet.

“You’re a nice guy, Ben,” Cindy mumbled. “Just maybe too nice. I want someone who can be rough and fun, not send me flowers all the time. You tried too hard.”

Ben gritted his teeth. “Wow. I’m so glad I wasted all this time trying to get you back just to hear that I’m a nice guy, but you’d rather sleep around. That makes me feel real special.”

He turned around, heading back to his car, when something flashed in his mind. “I actually came here to tell you that I slept with someone else too. You remember that flower girl who came to your office, Leslie? Yeah. I fucked her hard last night. So you think about that when you go upstairs back to that guy. How’s that for just a nice guy?”

Ben just caught Cindy’s horrified face as he turned back around to his car. Secretly, he thanked her for making his next decision so easy.

~~

Ben sped back to his apartment in record time. He was sure he broke about ten speeding rules on the way back, but he didn’t care. He wanted to get there before Leslie woke up so he could tell her everything.

He still felt guilty, he should’ve known how Leslie felt, and he should never have considered Cindy as an option in the first place. She didn’t love him like Leslie did, hell, she didn’t love him at all.

The car screeched as Ben pulled into the garage under his building. He slammed the door shut and hurried into his building, taking the stairs two at a time.

It looked like Leslie was still asleep as Ben reached his living room. He breathed a sigh of relief, he could then go and wake her up and she wouldn’t have to know that he was gone.

His plans were ruined when he stepped into the bedroom, she was lying there, staring blankly at the window. 

She turned when she heard Ben enter the room. “Where did you go?” she asked, her voice still croaky.

“I had to go see Cindy,” Ben said, sitting on the bed and taking her hands. “I needed to tell her about last night. I couldn’t live with myself. We worked so hard to get her back, and then I do this. But on the way, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. But Cindy still had a right to know. I got there and…she was doing the exact same thing…cheating on me. I know I shouldn’t be angry because I’ve gotten a taste of my own medicine, but she didn’t even feel bad about it, and in a way, I’m glad. I’m glad because she gave me you.”

Leslie blinked, taking it all in. “I don’t understand.”

“I want you to stay,” Ben said quickly. “I’m sorry about everything I said last night, I was just frustrated by the whole thing. I thought I knew what was best for me, but it turns out what’s best for me was sitting in front of me this whole time. It was you. My life didn’t get better until you were in it. Call me selfish, but I don’t want to let you go.”

Leslie’s eyes shifted to the broken vial still on the floor, the potion that she was supposed to take to go back to the stars. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say yes, please,” Ben said, squeezing her hands. “I love you so much, I see that now, and I was so foolish not to see it sooner.”

Leslie’s eyes filled with tears. “I love you too, Ben. You have to know that I didn’t come down here to try and ruin everything for you, or to get a free pass to live down here. I just wanted to make you happy.”

“And you did,” Ben insisted, cupping Leslie’s cheeks in his hands. “You’ll never know how happy you’ve made me. Sure, things were a little chaotic at first, but I don’t want to let you go, ever.”

He swallowed. “But only if you want to. I know that it’ll be painful for you, but I’ll be here for every step of the way, getting you what you need to feel better, and then, the day will come when you’ll be human, and we can go out to a restaurant for a date. You can even put sugar on your spaghetti and I won’t judge.”

Leslie giggled at that comment and wiped her eyes. “Are you sure about all this?”

“I’ve never been so sure,” Ben said. Then, he got up from the bed and walked back over to his underwear drawer and pulled the box back out. With his heart hammering in his chest, he sat back down opposite Leslie, slowly opening the box to reveal the diamond ring.

“I…this isn’t a proposal. I’m not sure what this is really…but if you stay here with me, this is what I want. Someone that will stay by me forever, through all the good times and bad. One day, I want you to have this ring, it might be tomorrow or in two years, but you’ll have it one day, I’m sure of it. I just wanted to let you know that I’m serious about you staying her, as long as you want to. If you’re scared and want to go back to your sisters then I understand.”

“I don’t want that,” Leslie cut in. “I don’t want to go back. You’ve given me everything, Ben. I want to stay here…with you. I can’t imagine going back and living without you.”

“Are you sure?” Ben asked, moving closer to her, their noses almost touching. “You’re giving up so much. You have everything and I’m…not much.”

“You shut your mouth,” Leslie said quickly, causing Ben to jolt backwards. “You’re perfect. And I’m sick of this pity party. Sure, I’ve been given everything that I could ever imagine being a star, but it’s not enough. I’d rather give all that back if it means getting you in return.”

She reached backwards, pulling a small green vial from under her pillow. It looked just like the purple vial that Ingrid had given him.

“My sisters gave me this. They said that if I was sure about this, then I could drink this, and the transformation would speed up, it’ll still take about two weeks, but it’s faster and won’t be as painful as usual. I didn’t realise they had given you the other potion. Maybe they did it to see if that was really what I wanted. I don’t know. But I’m glad you smashed the bottle, at first, when you were angry at me I thought that I didn’t want to be around if you hated me, that seemed like the only way out. But we worked through it. And that’s what humans do, right? They talk through their problems?” Leslie asked, tilting her head to the side.

“They do,” Ben replied. He then smirked. “But that other thing we did is usually out of love, not an angry, stop-talking-and-fuck-me kind of thing.”

“Oh so that was what that was?” Leslie asked. “A fuck?”

Ben spluttered. “No!...well…yes. It’s called sex. But there’s other words for it…you’ll pick it up soon enough.”

“It was similar to something we do in the skies,” Leslie mused. “It’s called bonding. And we do it when we have strong feelings for someone.”

“Really?” Ben said. “I guess we’re kind of similar after all. Stars and humans, I mean.”

Leslie nodded. “I guess so.”

She shifted a little. “So…when you did…that. It was because you felt strongly for me?”

Ben smirked again. “I’ve already said I loved you. I don’t know how else I can project how I feel about you.”

“You could do that again,” Leslie murmured. Her eyes big and hopeful.

Ben chuckled. “You liked that, huh?”

“I did,” Leslie smiled softly. “It felt nice. You know your way around a star’s body.”

Ben grinned, carefully pushing her down into the pillows and moving the small green vial to his bedside table. “That’s another thing we have in common. Your body is just like a female human’s body. So, there’s parts that I know will make you really happy.”

He kissed her neck, and Leslie sighed softly. “There’s this part,” Ben mumbled into her skin. He moved down, pushing up her pyjama top, “and these,” he said as he kissed and licked her nipples.

Leslie moaned softly as Ben travelled down, kissing her navel and hipbones, pulling her bottoms off as he moved. 

He craved her again. Her taste was something that he couldn’t get out of his head since yesterday. It was like some kind of addictive drug. He’d had his first taste, and thought that he’d die if he didn’t get it again soon.

Leslie let out a surprised yelp as Ben pressed his lips to her clit, sucking it and lapping at her. She gripped at his hair, begging and whining for more.

The small green bottle lay on the table, forgotten for the moment.

~~

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure you’re sure?”

“Ben, stop asking me,” Leslie told him. “I’m sure. 100%. 1000% even.”

Ben rubbed his hands on his tights. “Ok…it’s just…I want you to be sure.”

Leslie scowled at him. “Ben, do I need to get the binder again?”

Ben chuckled. After Leslie agreed to staying with them, and having their amazing make-up sex, they spent the day in bed. Both of them cuddled up with each other, watching films, and Leslie happily making notes on a binder she had. Ben soon found out that the binder was to give to him, letting him know how sure she was to become a human and stay on Earth.

“No, no. I’m good,” Ben said, he sat next to her and held her hand. “Alright, whenever you’re ready.”

Leslie took a deep breath and popped the small cork off the top of the bottle. She peered inside at the liquid, analysing it for a moment. Then, she pressed the bottle to her lips and drank it all in one go.

She grimaced as she lowered the bottle. “Poison” she growled, tongue hanging out of her mouth.

Ben immediately handed her a glass of water. “Is it that bad?”

“Tastes like…what was it called again? Broccoli?”

Ben snorted. A few weeks ago, before Ingrid and Lindsay visited, Ben had coaxed Leslie into eating broccoli, hoping that it would help her feel better. Leslie hated it and refused to try it ever again.

She was obsessed with sugar, and Ben knew he couldn’t change that.

Leslie lay back down in the pillows and Ben tucked her in. “How do you feel? Any different?”

“No, just exhausted still, I guess it’ll get worse from here on out,” Leslie mumbled, as Ben lay down next to her.

“Do you know what you’re in store for? You said this potion wouldn’t be as painful as what would happen if you didn’t take it, right?” Ben asked.

Leslie thought for a moment. “Well, without that, then there’d be your usual transformation stuff. My flesh would rot, bones stick out.”

Ben blanched. “That really happens?”

“Yeah, that’s what my sisters said. But with this they said I’d just stick with the symptoms of the human flu. You said that’s what you thought I had? So I guess I’ll just be like this, maybe a little worse.”

“We can cope with that,” Ben said, squeezing her hand. “As long as you promise that there’ll be no rotting flesh or anything like that.”

Leslie giggled. “I promise.”

And just like that, Leslie transformation had started. She spent the rest of her time in bed until she felt ready to move. But she lacked energy and couldn’t even stay awake for longer than a few hours. 

She got worse from there. At one point, she couldn’t keep anything down. Ben had tried everything, she even puked back up his chicken soup, and that was a recipe that had been passed down in his family and always worked when he felt under the weather.

He was so close to taking her to the hospital, but Leslie begged him not to.

“No one will understand,” Leslie whimpered. “I just need to ride it out.”

Ben wasn’t convinced. She was getting weak, Ben had to spoon soup into her mouth for her once the vomiting subsided.

It was scary seeing her like this. She was a constant shade of grey, and Ben was sure she was losing weight. Her face suddenly looked far too bony, and she had lost her cute, slightly chubby, cheeks.

Then, suddenly, two weeks after taking the potion, Ben woke up with Leslie over him. She was naked, and Ben was taken back to their first morning together.

“Get up sleephead!” Leslie said excitedly. “I’ve been waiting for you to get up.”

Ben rubbed his eyes. “What’s going on?”

“Don’t you see?” Leslie said eagerly. “I feel great! I’ve got so much energy, I feel like I could take on the world. It’s worked! That potion worked, I’m human!”

Ben looked at her up and down. She was right. Suddenly, everything that happened over the past two weeks looked like it was all a dream. Leslie was smiling back at him, her face clear and rosy. Her hair bouncy and clean. She was better.

“Are you sure? You’re not going to say you’re fine and then puke on me, are you?” Ben asked, sitting up.

“Nope! I’ve been awake for a while and I feel great, I even made breakfast! And I didn’t set fire to anything,” Leslie said proudly.

Ben yawned as he pulled back the covers. “How long have you been awake for?”

“I’m not sure, since like 4, it’s not important,” Leslie said, waving him off as she hurried back into the kitchen.

Ben trudged after her and his eyes widened. Seriously, was this a dream? There were freshly made waffles on the table, and a pot of coffee on the side. Leslie was standing by the table, looking proudly at Ben.

“What do you think?”

“I think,” Ben said as he walked towards her, pulling her close into him, “that I should be making you breakfast to celebrate your first day as a human.”

“You’ve been doing that all week for me. I wanted to do this for you,” Leslie insisted. “Plus, it was fun! I think I’m going to really enjoy cooking.”

Ben chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “You’re so perfect, and these look great,” he said, gesturing to the waffles.

“I’ve already had two,” Leslie admitted sheepishly, “and they are pretty good.”

Ben snorted. “You’re a monster,” he joked, leaning down and kissing her softly. 

“Beeennn, the waffles,” Leslie whined. “I want to know what you think.”

“All right, all right,” Ben said, pulling away and sitting down at the table.

Leslie puttered around the kitchen, pouring Ben a cup of coffee and placing it next to him, as he took a bite of the waffles. Leslie sat opposite him watching with a gleeful expression on her face. She was right, they tasted great.

He could really get used to this.

~~

She looked beautiful.

It was Leslie’s third night as a human, and Ben wanted to take Leslie out for a meal, like he promised. Leslie had gone shopping with Ann and came back with several new bags of clothing, all clothes that she could wear out on a date.

Leslie emerged from their bedroom in a beautiful turquoise dress. Ben had been buttoned the cuffs on his shirt in the lounge when he looked up.

“Wow,” he gawped at her. “You look beautiful.”

Leslie blushed. “Ann said this was my colour.”

“She was right,” Ben said, getting up and pulling her close to him. “I love this.”

He moved in closer, pressing his lips against her ear. “And it’ll look even better on my floor later.”

Leslie cackled and pushed at his chest. “Come on, we’ll be late. And I’m excited to try this place.”

She grabbed Ben’s hand and led him out of the door. They took a taxi to the restaurant so they could both drink. Leslie was eagerly pointing at everything in excitement, and Ben could tell that she was bothering the taxi driver a little, but he didn’t care. She was just being adorable.

He’d leave the driver an extra big tip when they arrived.

Ben ordered a bottle of wine, and Leslie watched happily as the waiter poured her a glass. 

“Do you think I’ll like this?” she asked, looking at the clear liquid.

“Try it and see,” Ben said.

Leslie sniffed the drink, and then took a big gulp. She coughed a little, and Ben chuckled.

“Yeah, sorry, I should have told you that you should sip it,” Ben said.

Leslie recovered quickly and took another sip. “Oh, this is good, I like this, what is this again?”

“White wine, but you have to be careful. If you drink too much you’ll get drunk, and that’s never good,” Ben said.

“And you were drunk the night you made that wish, right?” Leslie said, raising her eyebrow a little.

“Yeah, I was. But I felt terrible the morning after. Except for the fact I woke up with a beautiful girl in my bed,” Ben teased.

Leslie swatted at his hand, and Ben chuckled. The waiter placed their food in front of them and Leslie tucked in eagerly. She even put a couple spoonsful of sugar on her pasta.

“It tastes really good,” Leslie insisted as Ben watched her. “Try some?”

“It’s fine, I’ll take your word for it,” Ben said with a grin as he tucked into his steak.

After the food, Ben took Leslie’s hand and rubbed his thumb on top of her knuckle. “You look so beautiful tonight,” he told her.

“Thank you,” Leslie replied, tucking a loose curl behind her ear with her free hand. “Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

Leslie took a deep breath. “You mentioned the day you said you loved me that you had a ring? What was that for?”

Ben frowned a little. “It was an engagement ring. So, when you love someone so much you can’t bear to ever let them go, you propose to them with, usually, a ring. Then you get married.”

“Oh,” Leslie said, understanding. “We have something similar, I think. It’s called a supernova. Where essentially two stars who after bonding, decide to basically merge. It’s really romantic.”

Ben smirked a little. He wanted to re-write so many science books after being with Leslie. 

“Did you ever want to merge with another star?” Ben asked.

Leslie pursed her lips. “I bonded. But nothing ever led to a supernova. It just didn’t seem right. Maybe I was never supposed to be with my own kind.”

She took another deep breath. “So…that ring. You said I’d get it one day?”

Ben nodded, and Leslie smiled a little.

“Ok, I just wanted to make sure,” she said, and glanced down at the dessert menu. “Ooh, cheesecake, Ben! They have cheesecake!”

Ben chuckled, and looked down at his own menu, eyeing the description for the tiramisu.

~~

They arrived back at Ben’s a little after eleven.

Ben pulled his tie off and tossed it over the bedpost, while Leslie, with Ben’s help, unzipped her dress and lay down on the bed. He watched as she took her bra off and pulled on a cute pyjama top with clouds on it.

He stripped down to his boxer briefs and pulled an old R.E.M shirt out from the wardrobe to sleep in.

“Ben?”

“Hmm?” he grunted as he pulled the shirt over his head. “What’s up?”

“You know that ring?”

Ben smirked again. “You keep talking about the ring, is everything ok?”

“Yeah, of course,” Leslie insisted. “Everything’s fine. But…I think I’m ready for it.”

Ben’s eyes widened a little. “What?”

“You said I’d have it someday. Well…if you’re ready, then I’m ready,” Leslie muttered, toying with her fingers.

Ben looked ecstatic. “You’re sure?”

“Surer than I’ve ever been.”

Ben scrambled to get the ring box out of his underwear drawer. This wasn’t how he planned it at all. He thought it would be somewhere outside, in a park maybe. But no, this was just as perfect. Just them, in their pyjamas, in their bedroom.

He took a deep breath as he faced Leslie, and she watched with an eager curiosity as Ben slowly got down on one knee.

“Just before I do this. I want you to know that I’m deeply, ridiculously in love with you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” Ben said, looking down at the ring box and then back up at Leslie, her eyes were sparkling with tears.

He carefully opened the box, revealing the diamond ring. It shimmered in the dim light of the bedroom, but it’s shine was easily dulled by Leslie. He just hoped she liked it.

“Leslie Knope, will you-”

“Yes!” Leslie blurted out, and then covered her mouth.

“I’m sorry, I ruined it,” she gasped.

Ben ignored that. All he heard was a ‘yes’. He got up from his knees and kissed Leslie hard. They fell back down onto the pillows, and Leslie pulled Ben as close as she could. 

She then pulled away. “What was the end of it?”

“Oh. Marry me?” Ben said, with a little grin.

Leslie smiled. “Oh, sure!” she said. “I thought that was it.”

Ben chuckled and kissed her again, and again. This was it. This was going to be their life from here on out. And Ben knew he couldn’t imagine his life without Leslie anymore. She was perfect, and she was his.

His tiny, shimmering, sparkling fiancé.


	7. Epilogue - Ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! The last part for Starlight!!
> 
> I just wanted to say thank you so much to anyone that has read, commented or left a kudos for this story. It really means so much to me you have no idea. A special shout out goes to PawneeWafflesBen, because without her prompting me the title idea, this story would never have come to be!!
> 
> I really hope you enjoy reading this last part.

Ben couldn’t believe his luck.

A year and a half ago, he never believed that making wishes on shooting stars would make your dreams come true. That was some kind of lie that Walt Disney probably spewed out. But now, he could look back on the night he got drunk with Ann, Chris and everyone, and say that making that wish was the best decision he ever made.

Because right now, he was sure he was the luckiest guy in the world.

He grinned and moved a pile of baby onesies into their new mahogany drawers. Three months after he proposed, they were married. Ben promised that Leslie could go all out and have the biggest ceremony, and that was the plan, until she decided that she couldn’t wait any longer and wanted to be married to him right away.

They ended up going to City Hall that night, Ann and Chris as their witnesses. Just like that, they were married.

Not long after that, they moved out of his small apartment, and into a beautiful house with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Ben remembered the first night when they stayed out on the porch, looking up at the stars. Leslie pointed out all the constellations she could see, and even told Ben that she could tell the stars that she knew by the way they shined. 

Leslie had adjusted perfectly to being a human. Ben knew she would, she was a natural at it. She even got a job at City Hall, working in the Parks Department. Leslie was thrilled. Since coming to Earth, she liked to spend a lot of time in Ramsett Park. 

She could still talk to her sisters through her transportation ring, which she was happy with. She could send them pictures and letters, though she knew that they were always watching over her whenever the day turned to night.

She’d also become accustom to wearing underwear, which Ben thought she’d never get used to. Though there was a particularly bad incident where Leslie had her first period. There was a lot of crying and shouting, and Ben had to call Ann to come over and console her, and also to help deal with the parts that only women knew.

The periods soon became second nature to Leslie, until one day, they stopped.

“I haven’t had that…blood thing in a while, period, right?” Leslie said one day, and Ben immediately knew what was happening. Something that hadn’t even crossed his mind until now.

Three pregnancy tests later confirmed that they were indeed expecting.

It was funny thinking back to that time, and also thinking of the day they went for their first check-up.

Ann recommended Dr Saperstein. He was a little eccentric, so probably wouldn’t be put off by anything that Leslie would say or do, or the fact that there might be stardust in her bloodstream still. That was when the second shock came.

The sonogram read that Leslie was carrying triplets. Ben was so surprised he nearly keeled over, gripping the side of the bed Leslie was on for support.

He remained in a state of shock until they got home, that was when Leslie clasped his hand in hers and spoke softly.

“We got off lightly. Three babies is nothing. The average number of babies for a star to carry is usually eight.”

Ben felt grateful that night for the fact that there’d only be three more mouths to feed as opposed to eight. There was still so much to learn, especially about the fact that stars could reproduce.

He seriously needed to write his own book about stars. Scientists had them all wrong.

He sighed contently as he looked around the nursery. There was a triple crib in the corner that their friend, Ron, built. The walls painted a dusty green colour, and a rocking chair next to a diaper station. It was just perfect, now all that was missing were the three new arrivals.

It wouldn’t be long. Leslie was due to go in for her caesarean in two weeks time. It was going to be scary, but they were ready.

They had picked out names, or rather Leslie did. She had so much fun looking up baby names and picking her favourites. When she gave Ben her choices, he realised that he liked them just as much as her. Soon, they’d be welcoming Sonia, Stephen and Wesley into the world.

He gave the nursery one last look and walked back downstairs to where his very pregnant wife was sat on their couch, one hand rubbing her belly absentmindedly.

“How do you feel?” Ben asked, walking over to her.

“Just fine,” Leslie replied softly. “Oh, wow that was a big kick.”

She grabbed Ben’s hand and rested it to the right of her bump. “Right there. Can you feel anything?”

Ben felt the small tap against his palm and he grinned. “I did. They’re active in there.”

“It’s Sonia, I’m sure of it,” Leslie said, continuing to rub her bump. “She’s never moved from that spot.”

Ben chuckled. “I’ll take your word for it. You must know them better than I do.”

“I can’t wait to meet them,” Leslie sighed as Ben sat down next to her, drawing her into his embrace. “It’s been so long. I’m ready to hold our little babies.”

“I know, me too,” Ben replied, kissing the top of her head. “But it won’t be long, just hang in there.”

Leslie sighed again, and Ben just chuckled. She’d been so impatient all throughout her pregnancy, and he understood it. She was eager and excited to meet their babies. Especially since they were curious to see if Leslie had passed any of her star qualities down to their children.

Ben was sure that one child would come out glowing or something. But Leslie wasn’t so convinced. She was practically human now, and she knew that her old life as a star was long go. But Ben was sure that he could still see a slight glimmer in her eyes every now and then, and whenever he touched her he got a rush of happiness, like the one he got when they first met.

“They’ll be beautiful, that’s for sure,” Ben said, rubbing Leslie’s arm. “They have you for a mother. How can they not be?” 

Leslie bowed her head a little. “Stop, you’re making me blush.”

She wiggled closer to Ben and leaned up, kissing his cheek. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Ben replied sweetly.

Sure enough, two weeks later when the triplets were born, and Ben got to hold Stephen for the first time, he couldn’t help but notice the golden sparkle in his baby blue eyes.

He, at least, was going to be just like his mother.


End file.
